“The Sandman” just topped the ranking of most in-demand new series in the U.S. following its premiere on Netflix earlier this month. This isn’t surprising as Neil Gaiman has proved to be one of the authors whose work is consistently popular when adapted for TV. But how well does demand for “The Sandman” compare to other Gaiman series adaptations?
Several season premiere episodes of Gaiman adaptations have had nearly identical peaks, around 25 times the demand of the average series, according to Parrot Analytics‘ data, which takes into account consumer research, streaming, downloads and social media, among other engagement.
“The Sandman” (purple in the chart below), Amazon Prime Video’s “Good Omens” (red) and Starz’s “American Gods” (orange) all hit this mark within 10 days of premiering, while “Lucifer” (green) took longer to reach its peak in the first month of its second season — at the time still airing on Fox before moving to Netflix after its third season.
As a point of comparison, if we look at Stephen King, one of the most prolifically adapted living authors, we can see how much variability there can be between different adaptations from the same author. Among premieres of his recent small screen adaptations, HBO’s “The Outsider” had the highest demand, hovering above 24 times for most of its season. On the other hand, Apple TV+’s “Lisey’s Story” never got above 16 times the average series demand in its first season. Epix’s “Chapelwaite” is a good example of a show that was a late bloomer, with demand for the series strongly taking off mid-season as audiences finally discovered it.
Of course the source material is only one factor in how successful a show ultimately is. “Lucifer” is a great case study in how impactful the right platform can be in helping a show reach its highest demand.
When its third season ended in May 2017, after being canceled by Fox, the show reached the highest demand it had ever seen at nearly 30 times. Seven months later when Seasons 1-3 came to Netflix, the show saw a noticeable bump in demand. When the fourth season was released as a Netflix original in May 2019, weekly demand for the show hit a new record at nearly 35 times. So, while Neil Gaiman’s adaptations have proven to be predictably popular, even his stories benefit from finding the right home to maximize their potential.
For more from WrapPRO content partner Parrot Analytics, visit the Data and Analysis Hub.
