Parrot Analytics title movement reports reveal which series have had a serious impact on a market’s audience between March and May 2020.
The key questions investigated in this report include:
1. Which new series (Season 1) had the strongest debut among Portuguese audiences?
2. Which debut or pre-existing series gained the most audience attention in Portugal from March to April?
3. Which debut or pre-existing series gained the most audience attention in Portugal from April to May?
Which new titles had the strongest debut?
First, we will look at which new debuts were most demanded in Portugal. This chart contains 15 titles that had a global Season 1 premiere between March 1st and May 31st. Each series is ranked by its average market multiplier over that series’ first 30 days after the premiere date.
The most in-demand new debut in Portugal is Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance, originally from ESPN in the USA. In the first 30 days after The Last Dance’s April 19th global premiere, it averaged 14.0 times the demand of the average title in Portugal, more than any other new series.
Just behind The Last Dance is Netflix Original drama White Lines. The thriller is 13.4 times more demanded than the market average in its first 30 days from global premiere.
The strongest new comedy series in these three months is the Steve Carell-starring Netflix sitcom Space Force. With 11.7 times market average demand, this is the third strongest debut of all new series in these 3 months.
An Apple TV+ original series proved interesting to Portuguese audiences. Released on April 24th, Defending Jacob premiered with 9.0x the demand of the average series. The Apple TV+ platform has been available to Portuguese subscribers since November 2019.
Which existing or new titles gained the most audience attention from March to April?
The series that gained the most demand from March to April 2020 in Portugal is Netflix’s La Casa De Papel. Originating from neighboring Spain, demand for the crime drama grew by 13.5x the Portuguese market average month-to-month. The increase in demand was driven by Part 4 of the series releasing on April 3rd.
We see a strong growth in demand for children’s series from March to April. This corresponds to COVID-19 lockdowns, which began to shut schools in Portugal in this period. The series that saw the highest growth in demand are Pink Panther and Pals (increased by 8.0x average series demand compared to March), Brazilian children’s telenovela Carrossel (6.5x) and Sesame Street (4.4x).
Crime dramas proved to be in-demand with Portuguese audiences this month. Just behind La Casa De Papel in growth is a second Netflix crime drama, Ozark. Season 3 of Ozark released at the end of March, on March 27th. Other fast-growing crime dramas in this period include BBC America’s Killing Eve and Vis a Vis, from Spain’s Antena 3.
Although sci-fi drama usually competes closely with crime drama as the most demanded drama subgenre, only one sci-fi drama is among the fastest growing series in this period. This is Amazon Prime Video’s Tales From The Loop, which gained 4.3x the average series demand in Portugal.
Which existing or new titles gained the most audience attention from April to May?
Two of the three fastest growing titles in Portugal from April to May 2020, The Last Dance and White Lines, we already met in the list of the strongest new debuts. Netflix drama The Last Kingdom completes the top three and is the second fastest growing series on the chart between these two months. The Last Kingdom is also the fastest growing returning (Season 2+) series, gaining 8.0 times average demand after Season 4 released on April 26th.
As we saw between March and April, children’s content was also some of fastest growing series from April to May 2020. In this period, the fastest-growing series include Brazilian Netflix pre-schooler animation Bob Zoom (gained 5.6x Portuguese series average demand), European series Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug And Cat Noir (5.0x) and US cartoon Teen Titans (4.5x).
Horror series Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels grew strongly in demand. This is a US-made series set in 1930s Los Angeles, which premiered on Showtime on April 26th. Both Portugal (17th) and Brazil (5th) are among the international markets with the highest demand for the series. The show is available in-market on HBO Portugal.
The only series from the reality genre in either of the largest increase charts is MasterChef Profissionais, originally from Brazil’s Rede Bandeirantes. In Portugal, this cooking competition gained 6.0 times the average series demand from April to May.
In common with most markets, adult animation Rick And Morty gained demand in Portugal from April to May. Globally, the comedy is one of May’s top 20 most demanded series. Season 4b of the show began airing on May 3rd in the United States, and episodes were available the next day on Netflix Portugal.
This report is intended as a high-level overview of the most impactful series in this market. For deeper investigations, your monitor subscription gives you access to title-level demand data for tens of thousands of titles across dozens of markets.
