But Paramount+’s Taylor Sheridan series “1923” breaks the big streamer’s hold on the top ranks
The fourth season of psychological thriller “You” ran the tables with all five available episodes landing atop the streaming chart in the latest Wrap Report tracking the most watched programs across linear TV and streaming for Feb. 8-14, according to TV viewership trends collected from a panel of more than 3 million households drawn from over 25 million connected TVs, balanced to the U.S. Census.
Netflix’s continued tinkering with its release model appears to show a path forward for services looking to feed the binge-watching demands of many viewers while staving off subscriber churn. The streamer’s decision to split the fourth-season release of “You” into two parts, as it did for “Stranger Things” last summer, with the first of five episodes dropping Feb. 9 and the second batch dropping next month, appeared successful in its first week.
In the fourth season opener, homicidal stalker Joe Goldberg, played by Penn Badgley, embarks on a new life in London with a twist on past seasons’ formula: Badgley’s character finds himself manipulated by a mysterious and even more accomplished killer.
Top streaming programs, Feb. 8-14, U.S. (Samba TV)
With strong initial viewership for “You,” Netflix is clearly hoping to repeat the success of its staggered “Stranger Things” distribution model, which saw considerable momentum build between the two-part drops with even more viewers tuning into the second-half premiere than watched the initial premiere the month prior.
Most top Netflix shows see a third or more of their shows binged rapidly, with 77% of viewing for a particular piece of content typically happening with the first 15 days. Keeping subscribers paying — even if it means holding back episodes — is a key imperative for streamers as subscription cycling takes hold among consumers.
Also topping the streaming charts once again is Paramount+’s “1923.” The breakthrough draw of Taylor Sheridan’s growing universe was again on display: Paramount+ was the only streamer to compete with Netflix’s hold on the top 10 rankings. Episodes five and six of the Harrison Ford- and Helen Mirren-backed epic landed at No. 6 and No. 9, respectively, on the latest leaderboard.
Sheridan’s ability to draw in audiences for Paramount+ has been on full display this past year with almost one in four Paramount+ viewers throughout the second half of 2022 only watching Sheridan-backed projects, according to a Samba TV analysis.
Meanwhile, original streaming movies continue to score big with audiences. Netflix’s latest rom-com, “Your Place or Mine,” starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher is the latest example, notching the most-watched spot in streaming for the week.
On linear for the period leading up to Valentine’s Day, the main event was Super Bowl LVII airing on Fox, which resulted in a number of historic firsts that together made this year’s big game the top-rated Super Bowl since 2020. More than one in four American households tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs’ come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, topping last year’s viewership by half a percent.
Top liner programs, Feb. 8-14, U.S. (Samba TV)
With a lead in from Fox’s Super Bowl broadcast of Super Bowl LVII, “Next Level Chef” got a major lift and was the top-rated program on linear television last week. (Wrap Report rankings don’t include news, sports or live events.) CBS’ interactive special “Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Battle of the Decades,” which highlighted the top commercials of the last four decades, also claimed a spot on the charts. A Samba TV analysis of this year’s Super Bowl commercials showed the heartwarming “Farmer’s Dog” 60-second spot rise to become the most-viewed brand advertisement of the game.
We continue to see dramas dominate on linear, as CBS’s “FBI,” “Fire Country,” “Young Sheldon,” “NCIS” and “Blue Bloods” all ranked atop the charts, while ABC’s “The Bachelor” nabbed the No. 8 spot despite criticism of this season’s lead. Even though Zach Shallcross has been panned for being “boring” since he was announced as this season’s Bachelor, the program has still garnered viewer interest and, in its 27th season, has demonstrated its staying power.
Perhaps the lead up-to Valentine’s Day had romance on viewers’ minds, with content ranging from chart-topping Netflix original movie “Your Place or Mine” to reality series “Love is Blind” to a linear classic like “The Bachelor” all delivering heart-warming viewership.
Samba TV uses television technology to power real-time insights, measurement and audience targeting to enable marketing efficiency and effectiveness. Samba TV’s proprietary first-party data from tens of millions of opted-in TVs, across more than 20 TV brands sold in over 100 countries, provides advertisers and media companies a unified view of the entire consumer journey, including currency-grade measurement derived from a 3 million household research panel balanced and weighted to the U.S. Census.
Samba TV's lead contributor is Meredith Brace, the company's chief marketing officer. Connect with her on Twitter at @luckygirlbrace.
Samba TV
Samba TV uses television technology to power real-time insights, measurement and audience targeting to enable marketing efficiency and effectiveness. Samba TV’s proprietary first-party data from tens of millions of opted-in TVs, across more than 20 TV brands sold in over 100 countries, provides advertisers and media companies a unified view of the entire consumer journey, including currency-grade measurement derived from a 3 million household research panel balanced and weighted to the U.S. Census. Samba TV's lead contributor is Meredith Brace, the company's chief marketing officer. Connect with her on Twitter at @luckygirlbrace.