As Nielsen releases another edition of its streaming Gauge report, it’s time to check in with what’s happening across streaming networks and what properties are seeing the most traction with their audiences. Entertainment Attorney Los Angeles Brandon Blake, at Blake & Wang P.A., fills us in on the latest.
Zootopia Wins Again
In what will be a surprise to no one, the streaming charts for March 9 to March 15 were dominated by the streaming debut of Zootopia 2. The sequel had immense success at the box office and as a premium SVOD release, and it continued with its broader debut, drawing 1.72B minutes of viewing time from its March 11 release. Zootopia also saw a resurgence of interest, at 381M, more than double compared with the week before.
Other Strong Releases
This week, however, Zootopia 2 was not alone. One Piece, a Netflix offering that hasn’t seen screen time for just over 2 years, came back to its best weekly streaming total to date, closing in on Zootopia with 1.62B viewing minutes. Its best prior total was 1.39B. Virgin River, which ironically came in at the same 1.39B, also continued to do well, despite being in its seventh season.
The other premier of the week, Scarpetta, based on the Patricia Cornwell books featuring the title character, brought in 952M, enough to take 6th place among all titles, and 4th for original series. It was beaten out by the ever-popular The Pitt, at 1.02B.
Given that Nielsen’s streaming ratings only cover US watchers using a TV set, and don’t include viewers accessing from other sources, such as computers and mobile devices, that’s quite an achievement for a mid-March week. It will be interesting to see if Zootopia 2 continues to pull in audiences in its second week of release, or if it is simply the lure of a new Disney film for families with little ones to keep entertained while waiting for spring to arrive.
Film and Television 