It’s no surprise that a Netflix title tops the Samba TV Wrap report streaming chart again this week. After all, the biggest streamer by subscriber count has now held the top spot for nine straight weeks, making this a true Netflix summer.
What is a surprise is that the streamer holds the top four spots on the chart this week. Making matters more interesting is that all four of those titles have been available for several weeks, and in one case, more than a month. After five straight weeks with five different chart-toppers, this defies the “here today, gone tomorrow” trend we’ve seen with Netflix content.
Rest assured, there are Netflix debuts on the chart this week – three of them, in fact. That gives Netflix seven total spots on this week’s chart. In other words, total streaming domination. And this week, one of Netflix’s all-time biggest titles, “Wednesday,” returns. Watch out.
First among the quartet of Netflix titles is “Happy Gilmore 2,” which tops the chart for the second-straight week. The Netflix bean counters are surely happy with the returns on their investment in star Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions following the runaway success of this comedy sequel.
“Happy Gilmore 2” is followed by the buzzy “The Hunting Wives,” which moves up one spot from last week. Then we have two titles with staying power. “Untamed” topped the chart two weeks ago, then dropped to second, and now stays in third. Three weeks in the top three is something very few Netflix titles can claim.
For all of “Untamed’s” success, it doesn’t have the staying power of the next entry, “KPop Demon Hunters.” Last week, we looked at how the animated title has seemingly broken all the rules, and this week it rises up the chart again to fourth place, a new chart peak. This comes more than a month after the movie’s June 20 release date, something never accomplished by a Netflix feature film. Who knows when “Demon Hunters’” run will be done, done, done.
We get our first non-Netflix title in fifth place this week. “War of the Worlds” is the latest adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel from 1898. However, with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this Amazon Prime Video revival is unlikely to cause the mass hysteria that defined Orson Welle’s 1938 radio adaptation.
In sixth place is “Leanne,” the first of those three Netflix debuts this week. The sitcom stars comedian Leanna Morgan as a recent divorcee, defining her new life on her own terms. Coming from “Big Bang Theory” creator Chuck Lorre, the show is dripping with classic TV vibes and punchlines.
“My Oxford Year,” another Netflix debut, is next. The romantic drama follows the joy and heartbreak of an American student as she falls in love during a year at the prestigious British university. Amazon Prime Video’s coming-of-age series, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” stays on the chart this week. Although the show is down one spot, it maintains a chart presence thanks to a weekly release schedule.
Our final Netflix entry is ninth this week. “Trainwreck: Storm Area 51” is the latest title in Netflix’s “Trainwreck” documentary series, following a big hit from earlier this summer, “Poop Cruise.” This time, the series looks at the insanity that occurred when an online joke about storming Area 51 in Nevada crossed over into real life, inspiring thousands of people to descend on the area around the heavily guarded Air Force facility.
Finally, in tenth, the “Sex And The City” spinoff “And Just Like That…” returns to the chart. This week’s appearance was likely aided by the announcement last Friday that the show’s current season would be its last. We’ll see if fans continue to watch as they say their final goodbyes to Carrie Bradshaw.
There are no surprises over on linear this week, as “America’s Got Talent” tops the chart yet again.
Celebrity game shows are proving to be popular this summer, as the celebrity-focused “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” comes in second again, with “Celebrity Family Feud” in seventh this week.
Familiar friends “Wheel of Fortune” (three spots with third, fourth, and sixth), “American Ninja Warrior” (in fifth), “Jeopardy!” (two spots with eighth and ninth) and “Bachelor in Paradise” (in 1oth) round out the linear chart this week.
The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most-watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television, sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba TV’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.
