Image: La Casa De Papel, Netflix
This week, 04 – 10 September, a few shows entered the top 10 list with an impressive, though not unexpected surge in demand. Among overall shows, while Spongebob Squarepants remained the most in-demand show in the US with 76.7 times the average demand, Rick and Morty overtook The Walking Dead and is now the second most in-demand series in the US this week. The Adult Swim animated series had a 47% in demand following the release of the last two episodes of its fifth season, and now has 67.8 times the average series demand. Although The Walking Dead had a 7% decrease in demand, all is not lost for the AMC show. As mentioned last week, since the series will be maintaining a weekly episode release schedule until mid-October, we expect it to remain high up on the charts until then.
Showtime’s Billions also had a 22% surge in demand this week, and entered the list as the sixth most in-demand series in the US. The series released the eighth and ninth episodes of its fifth season after a year long wait, with the next episode due to release on the 19th of September. Billions has already been renewed for a sixth season, and with good reason, considering that it already has 45.5 times the average series demand following the release of the two new episodes.
Netflix’s La Casa De Papel saw the highest surge in demand across all titles (overall and digital original) following the release of its season 5, volume 1 episodes. The Spanish drama had a meteoric 136% increase in demand and knocked HBO Max’s Titans off the top to become the most in-demand digital original in the US. It had 51.2 times the average series demand in the US this week. While it is common to see shows have an increase in demand after releasing new episodes, La Casa De Papel’s massive surge could also be explained by Netflix’s entertaining experiential marketing tactics surrounding the release, which included a star-studded music video for the Indian market, and kidnapping the show’s top fans and holding them hostage on a flight to avoid leaking spoilers.
Titans is now in the second spot, with 44.4 times the average series demand, while Stranger Things and Ted Lasso slid to the third and fourth position respectively. On the other hand, Lucifer had a 20% increase in demand and rose to the sixth position on the charts following the release of its sixth and final season on September 10. The series now has 30.8 times the average series demand.
Cobra Kai slid off the charts this week, and The Handmaid’s Tale had another 12% increase in demand. While the series hasn’t had any big announcements lately, as mentioned last week, it has been in the news following the US following Texas’ abortion law. It remains to be seen how much traction the show will gain in the coming weeks as the debates around the law rage on.
