Image: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Netflix
In the U.S. for the week of May 06 - 12, while the top three positions in the overall shows ranking remained unchanged, the rest of the shows in the ranking did see some movement. Spongebob Squarepants topped the ranking for yet another week with almost the same level of demand as last week, 86.2 times the average. The Flash also stayed in second place with 68.2 times the average series demand, a minor 1% increase from last week. We expect the show to remain high up in the ranking as it heads closer to its series finale on May 24.
Interestingly, HBO's Game of Thrones rose up to fourth place thanks to a 6% increase which made it 60.8 times more in demand than the average series in the U.S. this week. The increase in demand for the show seemed to come after news broke that pre-production for the upcoming prequel series, The Hedge Knight has been paused due to the writers’ strike. Demand for Saturday Night Live dropped by 4% this week as the show went into its second week without airing any new content because of the ongoing strike.
The Simpsons also slid down to seventh place with 53.4 times the average series demand due to a 13% decline this week. Sesame Street moved up to ninth place with 49.7 times the demand average this week, a minor increase from last week. Rounding out the top 10 overall shows ranking, we see YTV’s My Hero Academia back in the ranking in tenth place with 49.2 times more demand than the average show in the U.S. this week. The series also had a minor increase in demand which can be traced back to a revelation in one of the latest manga chapters that was released a few days ago.
An 8% decline in demand saw The Mandalorian lose its position at the top of the streaming originals ranking to Netfllix’s Stranger Things, which in contrast had a 5% increase that made it 60.7 times more in demand than the average series in the U.S. for the week. The increased audience attention on the show seems to have come after the Duffer brothers announced their support of the strike and let fans know that production on the fifth and final season has been paused.
HBO Max’s Titans rose up to take fourth place in the ranking as it also had a 5% increase in demand this week. This was likely due to the series finale that aired on May 11, which signalled the conclusion of its story. It remains to be seen if the show will have another spike in demand next week and climb higher up the ranking once fans have caught up to the finale. As of this week, it recorded 38.6 times the average series demand in the U.S. Next in line we see a new show in the ranking - Netflix’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story took fifth place with 34.3 times the average series demand, a whopping 229% increase since it aired on May 09. The show is based on the life of Queen Charlotte, and is set many years before the events in Bridgerton.
Bridgerton also had an impressive 21% increase in demand which came after Queen Charlotte premiered. As often seen with shows and their spin-off shows, the prequel’s release influenced audience attention on the original show, as viewers tend to revisit the original series in these cases. The resulting increase made Bridgerton the sixth most in-demand streaming original in the U.S., with 34 times more demand than the average series. Rounding out the streaming originals ranking for the week, we see Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in tenth place with 25.9 times the average series demand, almost the same as last week. We do expect to see the show increase in demand, however, as it heads towards its series finale on May 26.
