Image: Animaniacs, Hulu
This week, November 29 – December 5, The Mandalorian continues its reign at the top of the charts as the most in-demand series in the US. Notably, the show grew its demand by 27% from last week and was 126.4 times the demand of the average series in the US for the week. In contrast to last year when demand for the series peaked during Thanksgiving and then dropped off before the finale, this year demand for The Mandalorian continued its growth into the week after Thanksgiving.
Although The Mandalorian held onto the number one place this week, animated series have had an incredibly successful week in general. Among the top 10 series in the US this week, the four shows that moved up the ranking were all animated series. In fact, demand for each of these four series increased by a double-digit percentage.
With 75.7 times the average series demand, My Hero Academia moved up two places in the ranking this week. Last week, teaser images were released on Twitter hinting at a third My Hero Academia film. Fans of the series were understandably excited as the manga creator had previously said there would not be a third movie
Hulu’s reboot of Animaniacs continued to surge higher in demand this week, two weeks following its premiere. It is the fourth most in-demand series in the US with 62.3 times the demand of the average series. The reboot of the cartoon from the 90’s seems to be tapping into both nostalgia for the original series as well as relevant contemporary commentary.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars continues to reap dividends from its synergies with The Mandalorian. Despite having concluded earlier this year, demand for the series has continued to increase concurrently with new episodes of The Mandalorian releasing as crossover characters and connections are revealed. This week demand for the show was up a whopping 44% from last week.
Demand for Saturday Night Live continued to slide this week as the show concluded its multi-week hiatus. It returned from the Thanksgiving break with a December 5th episode and demand for this should be apparent in next week’s result. This week’s episode was hosted by Jason Bateman with musical guest Morgan Wallen and had a surprise guest appearance from Eminem. Expect this perennially popular series to rebound strongly in the next few weeks as the remaining two episodes air before the end of the year.
Attack on Titan jumped up an impressive 8 places to return to the top 10 ranking for the first time in a number of weeks. The first episode of the new (and final) season aired on December 6th, so is not yet reflected in this week’s data. This series should power up through the rankings as episodes continue to be released.
Animaniacs has clinched the number 2 spot behind only The Mandalorian among most in-demand digital original series. This should be welcome news for Hulu, which has not had an original series among the top 10 in a while.
Star Trek: Discovery held steady as it continues to air weekly episodes. If normal patterns hold, it should pick up momentum as it approaches the season finale scheduled for January 7, 2021. There are 5 episodes remaining in the season.
Demand for The Umbrella Academy increased by over 20% this week. The series had 34 times the demand of the average series this week. The surge in interest was likely due to its star Elliot Page announcing he is transgender this week. Netflix confirmed he will reprise his role in season 3.
