In the last month of 2022 Netflix’s latest hit, Wednesday, just beat out the platform’s long-time flagship original series, Stranger Things, to be the most in-demand show available on the platform at the start of December. The new Addams Family spinoff had 66.27 times the average series demand for the first half of December and looks on track to be one of the strongest premieres of the year, even outpacing global demand for the premiere of Squid Game in 2021.
The Walking Dead ended its eleven season run with its series finale on November 20th and is still at the top of audiences’ minds in December with 50.82x the average series demand. The Walking Dead franchise as a whole looks to be set up for success even after the end of the original series. Multiple spinoffs either already exist or are scheduled for release. However, only the original series is available to stream on Netflix so this may be the last time Netflix benefits from demand for this massive franchise from AMC.
Both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul still have elevated demand following the Better Call Saul series finale in August. It is worth noting that demand for the original series is holding up better than the prequel as audiences rediscover Breaking Bad following the conclusion of Better Call Saul.
The Flash was the fifth most in-demand show available on Netflix so far this month. It is currently not airing any episodes and the ninth and final season is scheduled to premiere on February 8th. With the end of The Flash on the horizon, The Walking Dead recently concluded, and Better Call Saul fading into the rearview mirror, three of Netflix’s most valuable assets from linear TV are coming to an end. This could be a risk for the streamer, which may either have to find other content from linear channels or fill the gap with its own original series.
Bullet Train was the most in-demand movie available to stream on Netflix in the first half of December by a wide margin. It had 49.72 times the demand of the average movie, placing it among the top 0.2% of films by demand. This was more than twice the demand than for the second ranked movie on Netflix, The Bad Guys, which had 24.96x demand.
The success of Wednesday benefitted the entire Addams Family franchise. Addams Family Values was the fourth most in-demand movie on Netflix with 21.26x demand. The Addams Family movie also saw a boost in demand although it didn’t make the top 10, with only 14.8x demand. This is a great example of Netflix harnessing the power of franchises by reinvigorating existing IP as opposed to building franchises from the ground up.
