Image: Cobra Kai, Netflix
This week, 28 August – 03 September, while most shows retained their positions on the charts there were a few outliers that saw an increase in demand. Spongebob Squarepants remained the most in-demand show in the US with 77.5 times the average demand despite a 7% decrease in demand, while The Walking Dead also stayed at the second spot for the second week consecutively. Since the AMC series is still in the midst of weekly releases until mid-October, and has been drawing a lot of attention, we expect to see it at the top of the most in-demand shows in the US for the next few weeks.
As predicted last week, Rick and Morty had another surge in demand (5%) and rose to the position of the 4th most in-demand series in the US with 46.1 times the average series demand. Anticipation for season 5 episodes remains high and we expect to see a bigger surge in demand for the show after September 5, when episode 9 releases. Until then, fans have been treated to an exciting live action promo,(with Christopher Lloyd playing the eccentric Rick Sanchez, and Jaeden Martell playing Morty) ensuring that interest in the show remains high.
This week we also saw the ever-popular Sesame Street knocked off the charts and replaced by American Horror Story as the 10th most in-demand show in the US with 39.4 times the average demand for a series. This 4% increase in demand from last week, comes as the series began releasing episodes from season 10 since August 25. The show has already made headlines with the storylines and cast of the first three episodes, and like The Walking Dead, we also expect to see it steadily climb up the charts in the weeks to come.
Titans remains the most in-demand digital original in the US for the third consecutive week with 44.9 times the average series demand. The top three positions remain unchanged with Stranger Things in the second place with 42.2 times the average demand and Ted Lasso in the third with 39.4 times the average demand.
A show that drew quite a bit of attention this week was Cobra Kai, which rose to the sixth position on the digital originals chart with a 16% increase in demand. The karate soap opera had 30.1 times the average series demand, putting it ahead of Disney’s WandaVision which had 28.2 times the average series demand in the US this week. This surge comes as Netflix announced that the Cobra Kai would be renewed for a fifth season, ahead of its season four premiere in December.
Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers saw a 5% decrease in demand but still managed to remain on the list at the eighth spot, with 26.4 times the average series demand. Another Hulu original, The Handmaid’s Tale made it into the charts this week with 24.3 times the average series demand. The show, which is based on a dystopian novel, has been in the news a lot lately after the outrage that has swept the US following Texas’ abortion law. Many celebrities drew comparisons between the abortion law and The Handmaid’s Tale. While it wasn’t an expected reason for the increase in demand for a show, it isn’t unprecedented and certainly not the first time demand for shows have been impacted by real-life events. Last year, US demand for television dropped in double digits amid the George Floyd protests, while shows that highlighted racial inequality and violence surged in demand.
