With Loki debuting today, Parrot Analytics has analyzed the top new TV series with American audiences so far in 2021, and found its preceding Marvel Disney+ series are at the top of the list.
WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier earned 38.9x and 37.8x the demand of the average show, respectively, during their first 30 days of availability. Disney has demonstrated its ability to make conversation dominating blockbusters that are a hit as soon as they premiere. Clearly part of the magic powering these hits is the existing base of Marvel fans eager for the next piece of the universe to be unlocked.
The third largest debut with American audiences was Shadow & Bone, which was the biggest Netflix debut of the year by far. This data lends credence to Netflix’s recent decision to renew the fantasy drama for another season.
Six of the top 10 debuts were developed from book IP, showing the increased importance of tapping into pre-existing audiences in today’s entertainment world. Five of those are comic books, with Shadow & Bone being the only novel adaptation in the top ten.
Also on the list is Jupiter’s Legacy at number eight. Despite earning 15.7x more demand than the average show in the US during its debut period, Netflix recently decided to abruptly cancel the superhero series. While superhero series have had successful premieres so far this year, Jupiter's Legacy fell short of the Marvel series at the top of the list and also Amazon Prime's animated superhero series, Invincible.
Loki pre-release demand
Demand for the upcoming Marvels series, Loki has been tracking slightly below its Disney+ Marvel brethren in pre-release US demand. However, keeping pace with these series puts it in good company as these shows have been the top two new series premieres to date.
Three days before their respective launches, US demand for Loki was:
- 14.1% lower than pre-release demand for WandaVision
- 12.3% lower than pre-release demand for The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
At 17.4x more demand than the average show in the US three days before launch, Loki still achieved our Outstanding demand category, placing it in the top 3% of all shows in the US. This is without yet releasing any episodes, so anticipation is extremely high for this series.
Despite its three day out comparison, pre-release demand for Loki has largely held steady with that of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, which become the world’s most in-demand series just 8 days after premiering back in March.
