Image: The Legend of Vox Machina, Amazon Prime Video
For the week of January 21 - 27, Saturday Night Live was the most in-demand show in the US with 69.2 times the average series demand. Demand for the show rose by nearly 25% from last week when it ranked fifth. This week’s surge in demand was driven by the show returning with its first episode of 2023 hosted by Aubrey Plaza and featuring Sam Smith as the musical guest.
Rick and Morty saw the largest growth in demand for the week (+26%) as its co-creator Justin Roiland is embroiled in controversy surrounding domestic abuse charges. Fans of the popular show will be relieved to know that it will still have a seventh season although without Roiland’s involvement after Adult Swim severed ties with him. One of the biggest questions for the show going forward is who will voice the two title characters after Roiland’s departure. Fans have weighed in on the matter suggesting that one of the show’s popular impersonators be brought onboard to fill the roles.
South Park saw an 8.7% rise in demand this week. This seems to be due to high anticipation for the upcoming 26th season. A teaser video for the upcoming season was released on January 17th and on January 20th the season premiere date was announced to be February 8th. Since the release of the teaser demand for the show has been elevated, which bodes well for the upcoming season.
Among digital originals, Amazon Prime Video’s The Legend of Vox Machina had a stellar week. Demand for the show rose by 42% and it broke into the top ten for the week. The second season of the show, which is based on a Dungeons & Dragons webseries, released its first batch of three episodes on January 20th. Along with other shows like The Last of Us, Halo, and Arcane this show is part of a wave of success stories that have drawn their inspiration from gaming IP.
The top three streaming originals all held onto their rank - Stranger Things, The Mandalorian, and Wednesday in that order. However, all saw a decrease in demand. Wednesday fell by the most this week (11%) although the fact that it has remained among the top streaming originals since its premiere in mid-November is a sign that demand for the show will hold up well over time. This is a positive indicator for the success of its confirmed second season.
Cobra Kai had a successful week and saw its demand rise by 28% on the back of news that it was renewed for a sixth season. However, this will be the end of the road for the show which started as a YouTube original and eventually became a massive hit for Netflix. The streamer announced that season 6 would be the show’s last.
HBO Max’s Velma saw the largest drop in demand among streaming originals. Demand for the show fell by 21% and it dropped from 4th to 7th place in our weekly ranking. The harsh reviews appear to have finally caught up with the show. While controversy over the adaptation of the beloved cartoon initially drove interest in the show, this drop off in demand in the middle of its release seems to indicate that audiences are moving on.
