On the eve of the premiere of the second season of The Last of Us last April, Parrot Analytics revealed a striking figure: the HBO Max series had already generated more streaming revenue in the UCAN region (United States and Canada) than The White Lotus, surpassing $90 million by the end of 2024—with only one season to its name, compared to two for The White Lotus. Are we witnessing the rise of a new streaming monetization powerhouse?
At first glance, the story seems straightforward: a high-budget production based on a beloved IP like The Last of Us delivers faster returns than a more modest social satire. But once we factor in production costs, the picture becomes more nuanced. Reportedly, each episode of The Last of Us cost over $10 million to produce, whereas The White Lotus’ first season ran under $4 million per episode. In other words, The Last of Us has barely recouped its UCAN production budget, while The White Lotus has already paid back its two seasons in that same region.
This is where Parrot Analytics’ methodology and its innovative Streaming Economics system come into play—not merely measuring viewership, but translating audience attention into economic value. In today’s paradigm, it’s no longer enough to know how many people watch a series; we need to understand precisely what that attention is worth and how it turns into revenue. But first, let’s examine what sets these two shows apart.
A Decade of Fandom
The Last of Us is based on Naughty Dog’s acclaimed video-game franchise for PlayStation, adapted for TV by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann in partnership with Sony Pictures Television and others, including PlayStation Productions. Video-game adaptations aren’t new, but between 2021 and 2022 they grew 47 percent year over year—and they’re resonating beyond core gamers. The Last of Us earned a 9.2 IMDb rating in its first season and garnered widespread critical and popular acclaim.
A key to its success is the IP’s ten-year journey: the original game launched in 2013, giving HBO Max a decade of community-building and emotional investment to tap into. According to Omdia’s 2023 Devices, Media and Usage Spotlight Service, gamers exhibit higher cross-platform loyalty—subscribing to OTT services and consuming audiovisual content more consistently than other audience segments.
Strategic placement also mattered: HBO scheduled The Last of Us in its prestigious Sunday prime slot, home to hits like The White Lotus, Succession, Big Little Lies, and House of the Dragon. Additional factors—such as the game’s own writer being on board for the adaptation, a straightforward linear narrative structure, and inclusive representation across generations, genders, and the LGBTQ+ community—further broadened its appeal.
Moreover, the series boosted game sales: The Last of Us Part I saw a weekly sales increase of 238 percent in the U.K., while the PS4 remaster jumped 322 percent, underscoring the power of transmedia ecosystems where each asset drives the others. In Spain, where Season 1 premiered on January 16, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced in March that it had set all-time SVoD audience records on HBO, becoming the platform’s most-watched title to date. By October, it had reached 71.9 percent of Spanish viewers and amassed over 50 million streams, according to Digital i/SoDA.
The second season has already drawn critical acclaim, and a third season was greenlit before Season 2 even premiered.
A Global Phenomenon of Luxury Satire
The White Lotus debuted in July 2021 as a pandemic-era creative response—a limited miniseries by Mike White, filmed at a Hawaiian resort on a tight budget. Without any pre-existing fandom, it soared thanks to its distinctive visual style, iconic opening title sequence, and biting commentary on privilege, luxury tourism, and social tensions. Critics and audiences embraced it, earning 20 Emmy nominations and winning 10.
Its success spurred a second season set in Sicily, retaining its anthology format with new characters and storylines. Season 2 delved into desire, infidelity, and social conflict, garnering 23 Emmy nods and five wins, cementing its prestige.
Its impact wasn’t just critical: in the U.S., the Season 2 finale drew 6.2 million live viewers—a 51 percent increase over Season 1’s finale, per Warner Bros. Discovery’s December 2022 report. With each iteration, the show’s popularity and cultural cachet have grown, building a loyal community and long-term engagement.
The Profitability Paradox
The Last of Us exemplifies the blockbuster model on streaming—huge expectations, a built-in fan base, and top-tier production values. But its steep per-episode cost makes ROI complex and heavily reliant on international markets. The White Lotus, by contrast, began as a lean pandemic-era production but generated sustained conversation, awards buzz, and a devoted following that translates into ongoing engagement and profitability from day one.
This contrast raises a vital question: when measuring a series’s value, what matters more—raw revenue or the efficiency of generating it? We know that attention alone is not the same as profit.
The Economics of Attention
Parrot Analytics argues that valuing content in the digital era demands a holistic approach. Their system rests on a simple yet powerful premise: attention is the new currency. By aggregating over 2 billion daily global interactions—views, searches, comments, memes, reviews, downloads, and more—they estimate a title’s true demand and its likely impact on subscriber acquisition and retention.
A key finding: there is a direct correlation (R² > 0.9) between a series’s measured demand and subscriber growth on its hosting platform. This lets executives answer critical questions such as:
- How many new subscriptions did The Last of Us drive?
- Which titles are most effective at preventing churn?
- Do episodic premieres outperform binge-drop releases?
- Which shows generate the strongest cross-catalog engagement?
Efficiency Comparison
When charting cumulative revenue for The Last of Us versus The White Lotus, the blockbuster series rockets upward from its 2023 launch, while The White Lotus shows a steadier climb since 2021. Yet despite that early spike, The Last of Us’ UCAN revenues barely cover its production costs, making its global performance and sustained viewership in Season 2 crucial for a positive return. The White Lotus, with far lower episode costs and incremental audience growth, paid for itself in North America alone—an ideal case of efficient content that maximizes return without needing sensational viewership peaks.
Toward a New Investment Logic?
This analysis prompts reflection on original-content investment models: will the industry continue betting on high-risk, big-budget productions with variable returns? Or will we see a surge in more sustainable formats that steadily generate value over time? Parrot Analytics asserts that a series’s worth lies not just in headline numbers, but in its role within a platform’s ecosystem: does it attract new users? Retain existing ones? Boost engagement with other titles? Lower customer-acquisition costs?
Their methodology also identifies strong cross-platform performers. A prior Grey’s Anatomy analysis, for instance, showed that while the series streams on Disney+ domestically, its true retention power plays out in UCAN Netflix, where it anchors a key user segment—insights that inform licensing, exclusivity, and positioning decisions.
Measuring Value Beyond the Hype
The Last of Us vs. White Lotus comparison illustrates how our understanding of audiovisual value has evolved. Success is no longer just viewership figures; it’s about a series’s strategic impact—how cost-effectively it drives acquisition, engagement, and retention. In an ever-crowded market, knowing which content truly delivers on its investment will distinguish winners from also-rans.
