Image: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Netflix
For the first full week of 2021, January 3 – 9, Cobra Kai crane kicked The Mandalorian out of the top spot to become the most in-demand show in the US. With 139.4 times the demand of the average series in the US, the Karate Kid reboot more than doubled its demand from last week and reached levels it has not yet seen in its 3 season run.
Demand for The Mandalorian fell 18% from last week. Despite having released the final episode of season 2 on December 18th, the show has held onto the most in-demand spot until this week. It remains to be seen how long this show will last near the top of the charts. Disney+ is scheduled to release Wandavision, the first of its highly anticipated Marvel series, next week. As the streamer enters its sophomore year it looks like it will become less dependent on The Mandalorian alone to drive demand for content on its platform. We have already shown how The Mandalorian was able to drive demand for other Star Wars shows on Disney+.
The Simpsons returned after its holiday break and aired its first episode of the new year on January 3rd. Additionally, it is in the news this week after eagle-eyed fans claimed the show ‘predicted’ last week’s storming of the capitol. The next episode is not scheduled to air until February 14th so this week’s surge in demand may be short lived.
Jeopardy! had a stellar week, jumping into 10th place from #32 last week. For this week, demand for Jeopardy! was 47.4 times the average show in the US, up 30 percent from last week. Host for 37 years, Alex Trebek passed away in November but had pre-recorded enough episodes to last until last week. His final episode undoubtedly drew the attention of Jeopardy! fans. This week, Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings hosted, the first of several guest hosts scheduled to fill in for Trebek.
Among digital originals, Cobra Kai saw the greatest change in demand as it surged into the top spot, knocking The Mandalorian down a place. This is its first season released as a Netflix original. Being available on the streaming juggernaut seems to have helped it to have its most in-demand season premiere yet.
The final episodes of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina were released on Netflix on December 31st. The show hit its post release peak in the US on January 3rd and demand for the show is up 69.9% from last week. Netflix cancelled the series in July, before the final season was released. In 2018, its first season was the most in-demand digital original in the US for the year. No doubt fans of the show eagerly binged this season to find out how the series would conclude.
Star Trek: Discovery aired its season 3 finale on January 7th. Given this week had a season finale, the 4.3% increase in demand for the show this week seems underwhelming. Its post finale peak was only slightly higher than several mid-season weekly spikes in demand and was well below the spike in demand for the season premiere.
