‘Wednesday’ to overtake ‘House of the Dragon’ to become most-watched premiere of 2022; Broader streaming content fuels subscription cycling — report

According to a new report by Samba TV, streamers are hoping to capture viewers with their latest television series.

In fact, shows can have a shelf life of about two weeks to attract viewers. Data from the 20 most popular shows released in the second half of 2022 shows that 15 of them posted more than 75% of their total 51-day viewership in just the first 15 days. The only exception? Netflix’s Wednesday.

The Addams Family spinoff series drew nearly 66% of its audience in its first 15 days and had a longer shelf life than most, Samba reported. on wednesday Also blew up HBO’s past House of the Dragon to become the most-watched premiere of 2022 in a 40-day viewership window (House of the Dragon won in the initial 15-day window).

According to Samba, on wednesdayIts success was partly driven by the way the series went viral on social media, attracting young viewers.

Capturing the attention of Gen Z when it comes to streaming series could be the new key to long-term viewership. Also on wednesday And House of the DragonRyan Murphy’s offer Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story And the guard It was among the most watched premieres of the year in its first 15 days of release. All four overperformed among Gen Z and millennial households.

Perhaps surprisingly, more people canceled their cable subscriptions last year as well. Only 48% of US households have a cable or satellite TV subscription – and that number is significantly lower among Gen Z and Millennial households. More than eight in 10 Gen Z and millennial viewers stream their television, Samba reports.

But despite massive content investment, viewers continue to show that their interest in a particular platform is often tied to just one content, especially among new entrants with smaller catalogs of content like Apple TV+ and Paramount+, where more than half of viewing is watched by family members. One of the top 50 programs. For example, Paramount+ has seen a huge increase in its viewership thanks to Taylor Sheridan. One in four subscribers watched his show on the streamer in the second half of last year.

Meanwhile Netflix and Disney+, each of which produced significant content across multiple genres, saw less than 40% of their viewers watch one of their best programs across the entire half.

This leads to what experts dub subscription cycling, in which viewers sign up for a service to watch only a specific program before canceling and moving to another streamer. According to Samba, only 29% of US adults have cycled a subscription in the past six months but more than two-thirds plan to in the next six months.

Read the full report here.