The Mandalorian is far and away the most popular show offered by a new streaming service. This, according to a new study that was conducted by the folks at Parrot Analytics. It found that the live-action Star Wars series, which debuted on Disney+ last year, was a cut above the competition, with none of the offerings from Apple TV+, HBO Max or Peacock coming close to attracting the same level of demand.
According to the firm’s findings, demand for The Mandalorian, which premiered on November 12 of last year, was 55 times higher than any other show released that week. Disney opted to go with a week-to-week release for the show, which comes from Jon Favreau (The Lion King, Iron Man). That helped the show stay in the conversation for nearly two months, as opposed to how Netflix typically dominates for a weekend once they dump an entire new season of a show. Along with the power of Baby Yoda, the strategy proved to be successful.
It certainly doesn’t hurt matters that the show was met with widespread critical acclaim. Case in point, The Mandalorian recently racked up 15 Emmy nominations, including a surprise nod for Best Drama Series. Season 2 is set to arrive on Disney+ in October. It was also recently revealed that the service has racked up more than 60 million subscribers already.
The study looked at the four new streaming services that entered the marketplace in the last year. Apple TV+ had hits with For All Mankind, Dickinson and See. The Morning Show, to a lesser degree, also proved to be appealing. The service garnered 14.7 times the average appeal of a show with its core slate of originals. HBO Max did well with Looney Tunes Cartoons, Love Life, Search Party and The Not Too Late Show With Elmo, earning 9.2 times the average. Peacock, with Brave New World, Curious George and Intelligence, earned 6.1 times the average.
Streaming has become the wave of the future. With Netflix nearing 200 million subscribers worldwide, everyone else is playing catch up. While Disney+ seems to be leading the pack, numbers can be misleading. Alejandro Rojas, director of applied analytics at Parrot had this to say.
“Every title has a different value. It goes beyond viewership and the traditional way of looking at the industry. It’s all about capturing people’s interest and connecting emotionally with the people so they see that show as part of their life.”
Star Wars proved to be a huge cornerstone for Disney+ as the final season of The Clone Wars was its second-most in-demand show. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and The World According to Jeff Golblum were the best performers not connected to a galaxy far, far away. Disney also has several live-action Marvel shows coming down the pipeline, including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision, as well as more Star Wars shows, which should help to further boost the appeal of Disney+. This news comes to us via The Hollywood Reporter.
