It has been a busy week for the streaming industry. On Friday, it seemed as if Netflix was on the cusp of becoming an unassailable streaming superpower with the news that it would buy Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion. Then this week, news broke that Paramount plans a hostile takeover of Warner Bros.
Netflix and Paramount are pitted against each other on the Samba TV Weekly Wrap report as well, with two of the services’ biggest titles battling it out for chart supremacy.
This week, Paramount+ landed a victory, as “Landman” tops the chart for the second time in three weeks. The Billy Bob Thornton western, which was recently renewed for Season 3, reclaimed the chart as Netflix’s “Stranger Things” slid down to third place.
That might be because the fifth season of “Stranger Things” had an extraordinary debut, as 39% of the week one audience binged the entire season in just 48 hours. And don’t forget, the show has two more drops for its final season, with new episodes coming on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.
While Paramount+ can claim the top spot, Netflix owns six of the remaining eight spots on our Top 10 this week. Sandwiched in between “Landman” and “Stranger Things” is another Netflix title, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning.” The four-part documentary series looks at the downfall of the incarcerated former hip hop impresario.
“My Secret Santa,” also on Netflix, debuts in fourth this week. There are shades of “Mrs. Doubtfire” in this rom-com about a mom who wears prosthetics to hide her appearance to get a job as a Santa Claus on a ski mountain.
In fifth is “Troll 2,” a Norwegian monster movie that is gaining a bit of buzz. Despite it being in a foreign language, the film drew in 1 million households in its debut week.
We have another Western in sixth place with Netflix’s “The Abandons.” In contrast to “Landman,” this drama series is set in the 1850s, where things were a bit wilder.
“The Beast in Me” falls to seventh this week, which is still a strong showing for a Netflix title, considering it’s the drama’s fourth week on the chart.
Paramount+ gets back in the action with “Mayor of Kingstown,” which moves up one spot this week to eighth.
Prime Video lands the only other non-Netflix title on this week’s chart with “Oh. What. Fun.” The holiday movie stars Michelle Pfeiffer as the underappreciated matriarch of a family who finally decides she’s had enough.
Rounding out the list is “Jay Kelly” on Netflix. With stars George Clooney and Adam Sandler, the comedy-drama has Oscar potential for the streamer.
For the second week in a row, the linear chart is all about the holiday season, with seasonal specials bookending the regular broadcast fare.
The “93rd Annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center” lights up the chart this week in the number one spot, followed by “The Wonderful World of Disney: Holiday Spectacular” in second. Meanwhile, lots of viewers are spending Christmas down south, as “Christmas in Nashville” (NBC) comes in ninth, followed by “CMA Country Christmas” (ABC), in tenth.
In between the celebration is our regularly scheduled programming. This week we find “Tracker” in third, “Dancing with the Stars” in fourth, and “NCIS” in eighth. “Wheel of Fortune” squeezes three airings in there as well, in spots five through seven.
