By now, viewers are overly familiar with the two main streaming release models: there’s the traditional one-episode-a-week strategy, and then there’s the go-big binge model. While the binge model has its positives, the Samba TV Weekly Wrap streaming chart shows that the tried and true one-at-a-time model has succeeded in building buzz and keeping streaming shows lodged on the chart.
Released weekly, “The Last of Us” topped the chart once again this week and Max/HBO has now held the top spot for several months. Contrast that to the handful of all-at-once titles that have made a run but never get over the hump to take the top spot. The latest example is “The Four Seasons,” a Netflix miniseries that is in second place for the second consecutive week. Before that, Netflix’s “Ransom Canyon” sat in second for two straight weeks, but it’s now off the chart completely, one month after its debut.
Meanwhile, we have three risers in the middle of the chart, all benefiting from strong seasons. It starts with “Your Friends & Neighbors,” as the Apple TV+ series starring Jon Hamm is up three spots to fifth this week. In seventh is “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu. The sixth season of the speculative fiction series was down last week, but bounced back this week, going from ninth to seventh. Finally, there’s “Andor” on Disney+. The Star Wars series was in tenth place for two straight weeks, and now it rises up to eighth.
With those risers out of the way, much of the rest of the chart belongs to Netflix. The streamer has two new titles this week, starting with “Nonnas,” in third. The film stars Vince Vaughn as a man who opens an Italian restaurant to pay tribute to his mom and his grandmother. For a touch of authenticity, he hires a group of local grandmas — the titular Nonnas — as the chefs.
That’s followed by “Extraterritorial,” the German action thriller, which is down one spot this week. Netflix’s other debut is “A Deadly American Marriage,” Netflix’s latest true crime documentary. It’s in sixth place this week.
The Amazon Prime Video film “Another Simple Favor” falls two spots this week, landing in ninth. Closing us out in tenth is “You” on Netflix. Like many Netflix titles before it, this may be the last we see of the psychological thriller. After two weeks in the fifth spot, it now falls down to tenth.
On linear, “American Idol” achieves a rare feat, taking the top two spots on the chart as it moves towards its May 18 grand finale. “Tracker” trails it in third, followed by “The Voice” in fourth.
When it comes to scripted dramas, CBS’s “FBI” is fifth, while NBC places “Chicago Med” in sixth, and “Chicago Fire” in eight.
“Wheel of Fortune” slots two episodes in seventh and tenth this week, while “America’s Funniest Home Videos” slides in at ninth.
The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba TV’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.
