Image: Stranger Things, Netflix
For the week of May 21 - 27, Stranger Things came out on top in the battle for audience attention, taking over the first position from Spongebob Squarepants to become the most in-demand series in the U.S. overall. The show aired the first seven episodes of its fourth season on May 27, resulting in an almost 65% surge in demand. The series is now 101.2 times more in demand than the average show in the U.S., leading the race by a mile compared to Spongebob, which trailed behind with 76 times the average series demand.
Saturday Night Live rose up to third place with an 11% increase in demand after its season finale aired on May 21. The long-running sketch comedy concluded its forty sixth season with 61.4 times the average series demand in the U.S. this week. The Simpsons also had a 13% spike in demand after its musical season finale featuring Hugh Jackman aired on May 22. The ever popular series was the seventh most in-demand show in the U.S. with 44.7 times the average series demand.
MBS’s Attack on Titan has been seeing a steady rise in demand after Crunchyroll began airing the latest English dub episodes from May 08. The anime had a further 10% increase in demand this week, coming in eighth place with 41.8 times the average series demand. Sesame Street was not too far behind with 41.6 times the average series demand, a 13% increase from last week.
Stranger Things remained the top streaming original in the U.S. this week, followed by The Mandalorian in second place with 37.4 times more demand than the average show, a 5% increase from last week. Demand for The Mandalorian increased this week as Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered on May 27, indicating fan interest in brushing up on the storylines as they continue the journey in Obi-Wan.
Netflix’s Love Death + Robots had the most significant increase in demand among all shows this week. The 165% surge comes after its third season premiered on May 20. The show consists of a collection of animated short stories spans several genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror and comedy, appealing to a wide audience and keeps audiences entertained without investing too much viewing time. Its popularity and demand shine a light on the success of this strategy: Love Death + Robots took over the third spot in the rankings this week with 35.5 times the average series demand in the U.S.
Rounding up the list this week is Bridgerton in ninth place with 26.3 times the average series demand, a 10% decrease from last week. It was followed by The Witcher in tenth place, which managed to maintain almost the same level of demand as last week- 25.9 times the average series demand in the U.S. It’s likely that one of these shows will slide of the charts next week as demand grows for the latest Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is set to air episodes weekly until it’s conclusion on June 22.
