Image: The Expanse, Prime Video
Last week, Disney+’s The Mandalorian was the most demanded show in the United States. However, the power of the Force was no match for the power of music and Nickelodeon’s Spongebob Squarepants takes the top spot this week. Demand for the long-running cartoon was boosted when the character was featured across 4 Nickelodeon channels in a TV broadcast of The Spongebob Musical: Live On Stage.
The Mandalorian continues to have high demand and remains the second most demanded title overall in the USA.
Rising to 3rd from 8th is NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Demand for the sketch comedy is up 43.7% compared to last week. This week’s episode featured Jennifer Lopez as host and included a NATO sketch starring James Corden that gained traction online.
Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe is the last big riser in the overall chart this week. The cartoon returns to the top ten with a 58.1% increase in demand. This comes after the first episode of the show’s final season premiered on December 7th.
The Mandalorian easily remains the title with the highest audience OTT demand. The Star Wars series has nearly 65% more demand than Netflix’s Stranger Things.
Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is continuing to rise up the digital original chart. The show ranks 4th this week, up 49% from last week when it ranked 6th. Impressively, this large increase comes after audience OTT demand for the comedy had already doubled last week after the December 6th release of Season 3. This may be due to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel receiving 4 nominations on December 11th for the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is joined in the digital original top ten by another Prime Video title, The Expanse. Previously a cable show on the Syfy channel, the sci-fi drama was saved with great fanfare by Amazon after Syfy cancelled it. Amazon’s decision to step in and renew The Expanse was reportedly influenced by Jeff Bezos himself. Season 4 – the first of the Prime Video original seasons – was released on December 12th. Demand for The Expanse rose 34.4% from last week, when it placed 14th.
Although Apple TV+’s See has dropped out of the top ten this week, the new platform keeps their presence in the digital original chart. Placing at 10th, crime drama Truth Be Told becomes the second Apple TV+ series in the top ten by US audience OTT demand. The series is adapted from the novel of the same name.
