Image: The Wheel of Time, Amazon Prime Video
This week, November 20 - 26, Spongebob Squarepants held on to its position at the top of the most in-demand series list in the US with 74 times the average series demand. The perennially popular show saw a 7% increase in demand after the iconic Thanksgiving Day Parade last week, when Al Roker’s Spongebob impression to announce the arrival of the character’s balloon was a big hit among fans. Saturday Night Live also saw a 9% increase in demand after Marvel’s latest star, Simu Liu hosted for the first time on November 21. The Canadian star has been a fan-favourite after his performance in Shang-Chi, and that reflected in the audience’s reception to his monologue, bringing the show’s demand up to 68.5 times the average series demand this week.
South Park entered the top 10 list this week as the fourth most in-demand series in the US with 48.6 times the average series demand. The satirical animated show had an impressive 41% increase in demand after a special episode, South Park: Post Covid, released on November 25.
The Flash held on to its position from last week with 39.5 times more demand than the average series this week, with another 3% increase in demand. The show is currently in the midst of releasing episodes from its eighth season, and the latest episode shocked fans after the death of a character that has been around since season one. As more episodes from season eight drop, we expect The Flash to continue rising up the ranks in demand.
Netflix’s Arcane is still the most in-demand digital original series in the US with a further 8% increase in demand this week. The show had 50.6 times the average demand, and has already been renewed for a second season. The hybrid release schedule seems to have also worked, since most Netflix series peak in demand after two to four days of availability before dropping off; however, in the case of Arcane, audience demand for it increased exponentially (up 228%) among American audiences between November 6 – November 21.
Another series which had an exceptionally high increase in demand this week was The Wheel of Time. The Prime Video show outpaced many other big hits in pre-release demand, and is currently “the most watched series premiere of the year” for the platform. The Wheel of Time was the second most in-demand series in the US with 45.2 times the average series demand.
Rounding out the ten most in-demand digital originals this week was Disney+’s Hawkeye. The Marvel show also had an incredible increase in demand of 48% this week after the release of its first episode on November 24. The show had 25.3 times the average demand this week, and as more episodes drop, we expect the demand for the series to continue increasing as has been the case with previous Marvel shows this year.
