Image: You, Netflix
For the week of February 11 - 17, SpongeBob SquarePants remained the most in-demand show in the US. With 85.4 times the average series demand, it remained relatively even with where it was last week. However, it faced some stiff competition - the next three most in-demand shows all saw double digit percent growth from last week.
In second place was South Park, which had 83.8 times the average series demand for the week, falling just short of overtaking SpongeBob SquarePants. Demand for the perennially popular adult animation series rose by 34% from last week as the show’s 26th season gets into full swing. The second episode of the season aired on February 15th and lampooned the Harry and Meghan drama that has captured people's attention over the past year between a Netflix documentary and a tell-all book release.
The Flash rounded out the top three most in-demand shows of the week. Its 22% increase in demand was enough to lift it up from its ninth place rank last week. The show just kicked off its ninth and final season on February 8th. So far, demand for the show’s latest season is outpacing the previous three seasons.
The Last of Us benefited from a unique scheduling change this week. In order to avoid competing with Super Bowl Sunday on February 13th, the fourth episode of the show was made available on HBO Max and HBO On Demand two days early on Friday, February 10th. Because of this, audiences didn’t have to wait a full week between episodes, which helped boost demand for the show up by nearly 40% this week.
Among digital original series, Stranger Things held onto the top spot with 58.3 times the average series demand. Another Netflix series, You, saw the biggest increase in demand for the week however. Demand for the thriller jumped by 72% after its fourth season premiered on February 9th. As it has started doing with many of its biggest shows, Netflix is splitting the fourth season of You into two parts, with the second tranche of episodes due to be dropped on March 9th.
Star Trek: Picard from Paramount+ returned for its third and final season on February 16th. This week its demand rose to 36.8x, which made it the fourth most in-demand digital original series in the US. While the Star Trek franchise has been a pillar of the Paramount+ catalog, it is clear the platform is looking to diversify by expanding another of its franchises. 1923, from the Yellowstone franchise was the 10th most in-demand streaming original this week and is one of several shows in the ‘Sheridan-verse’ that have made Paramount+ a destination for fans of this content.
Ted Lasso saw a nearly 50% jump in demand this week. Demand for the show rose to 36.8x and it ranked as the fifth most in-demand digital original. This is coming well ahead of its season 3 premiere which is scheduled for March 15th. The season 3 premiere day was only announced in a teaser on February 15th. The short window between the announcement and the season premiere date doesn’t leave much time for a campaign to promote the show, but Apple TV+ could be hoping to turn excitement from the announcement into momentum leading directly into the season premiere.
