Image: WWE Monday Night Raw, USA
For the week of June 20 - 26, Rick and Morty was the most in-demand show in the US, knocking Spongebob Squarepants out of the top spot. The animated comedy from Adult Swim had 77.8 times the average series demand. This week saw demand for the show rise by 42% compared to last week. Season 5 of the show was released on June 20 and made available for free on YouTube.
Sesame Street moved up 3 spots in the overall rankings and its demand was up by 17% to 46.6 times the average series demand. This past week the show introduced the first family with two dads in a recurring spot on the show. This addition came just ahead of Father's Day and during Pride month.
WWE Monday Night Raw moved into the top 10 demand ranking for the week, with 37.7 times the average series demand. The past week one of the show’s writers was released following a controversy where she claimed to know nothing about WWE, causing a stir among die hard fans.
Among digital originals, Stranger Things held onto the top spot for the week with 39.4 times the average series demand. It was a bit of a down-trending week among the top digital original series. 7 of the 10 most in-demand digital original shows saw their demand decrease from last week. In particular, Lucifer fell two places in the digital original ranking, ending the week as the 4th most in-demand digital original in the US. This follows the demand peak from its latest season release on May 28th.
Loki seems to have hit the mid-season doldrums, a common pattern for weekly released series challenged with keeping the momentum up each week. Demand for Disney+’s latest Marvel original was actually down 7% this week although the show managed to hold onto its 3rd place rank among digital originals.
There was a surprise this week as Cobra Kai grew the most in demand among the top 10 digital originals, up 14% from last week. Anticipation is high for the next season, due to be released at the end of the year. The show was the most in-demand digital original in the US in the first quarter this year, contrasting with many markets where WandaVision came out on top. This week’s bump seems to be driven by the announcement that the three original Karate Kid movies will be available on Netflix on July 1st. This move should help the platform fully realize the potential of the franchise.
