The home of ”Tulsa King“ and ”1923“ has been racking up big views on less content than the leading streamer
Paramount’s bet on all things Taylor Sheridan continues to pay off in spades — and the numbers prove it.
Here’s one clear sign: In the fourth quarter, Paramount+ racked up the second-most appearances in Whip Media’s weekly rankings of the top 10 most-streamed TV shows in the U.S., trailing only Netflix among streaming services. The rankings use data from U.S. users of Whip Media’s TV Time, a movie and TV show tracking app with more than 24 million global registered users.
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So what’s been working for Paramount+?
Anything connected to the “Yellowstone” universe, for starters. “1923,” the “Yellowstone” spinoff series starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, has been a verified hit since debuting in December; it’s the show responsible for pushing Paramount+ to the top of Whip Media’s weekly ranker of late, with “1923” being the most-streamed series in the U.S. to start the year.
Another winner for Paramount+ has been “Tulsa King,” Paramount+’s new series starring Sly Stallone as a veteran mafioso who sets up shop in Oklahoma following 25 years in the clink. It also benefits from a strong supporting cast, which includes “Sopranos” alum Max Cassella, “Silicon Valley’s” Martin Starr, and actress-comedian Andrea Savage.
“Tulsa King” was a consistent performer for Paramount+, with the show appearing in Whip Media’s top rankings each week between its November premiere and season finale earlier this month. And yes, “Tulsa King” was created by Sheridan, too.
It’s also worth pointing out both “1923” and “Tulsa King” closely mirrored the performance of “1883,” the first “Yellowstone” spinoff series from Sheridan, which routinely ranked among the top 10 most-streamed shows a year ago, according to Whip Media’s data.
Among shows not tied to Sheridan, “SEAL Team” and “Criminal Minds” have also been driving big views for Paramount+.
Let’s jump back to the fourth quarter for a moment. Netflix and Paramount+ were first and second in terms of total appearances on Whip Media’s top 10 ranker (Paramount+ shows made the cut 24 times, compared to 28 times for Netflix shows.)
But the two services arrived at their destination by taking two different approaches. Netflix, on the one hand, fights for viewers’ attention by releasing a lot of shows. This helps Netflix consistently crack Whip Media’s top 10, thanks to its steady slate of new shows and popular returning series. (Netflix’s hits in the quarter included “The Crown,” “Wednesday” and its “Harry & Meghan” docuseries.) Netflix’s 28 appearances in Whip Media’s weekly ranker during the quarter were spread out across 12 different series.
Paramount+, on the other hand, is taking fewer swings, but still hitting a fair amount of dingers. The service had only five titles contributing 24 appearances in the top 10 in the quarter, suggesting that once a Paramount+ show resonates with fans, it has staying power until the season wraps up.
“This is all about release strategies. When Netflix drops all of a series’ episodes at once, they are commanding a segment of the audience’s attention all at once. The time spent is high, but it is in a tight window of time,” explained Eric Steinberg, Whip Media’s media research and insights lead. “For this to be effective over a longer period of time, Netflix’s strategy requires generating more content than the other platforms that release episodes in a measured cadence.”
He added: “Even without specific budget figures available, it stands to reason than Disney+ and Paramount+ were more efficient at staying among the top viewed programs than Netflix.”
And of course, Paramount+ would look even better compared to its rivals if Paramount Network’s most famous show, “Yellowstone,” was on the service. Kevin Costner’s hit show is exclusively available to stream on Peacock.
Still, the results are unambiguous: Paramount+ is a streaming powerhouse, due in large part to Taylor Sheridan and the shows he’s created. Don’t be surprised if Paramount CEO Bob Bakish is on the phone with him right now, negotiating terms on another “Yellowstone” spinoff.
Sean Burch is a marketing insights analyst at Whip Media, a WrapPRO partner. Click here for more from Whip Media.
Whip Media
Whip Media is a market-leading data provider and enterprise software platform. The company provides global consumer anticipation, viewership and engagement data and insights across all platforms for movies and television. This enables the world’s largest media and entertainment organizations to make more informed marketing, licensing, programming, and development decisions. For more information, visit www.whipmedia.com.