Meanwhile, holiday programming is beginning to fill the most-viewed rankings
In a field of Netflix, stands Paramount+’s “Tulsa King” in the latest edition of Samba TV’s Weekly Wrap report providing an exclusive first look at the most-watched movies or individual TV programs from the past seven days across both linear television and streaming.
Notably, the drama from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan was the only non-Netflix program to secure a spot on the most-watched streaming list. Starring three-time Oscar nominee Sylvester Stallone, the crime series continues to generate strong viewing interest, potentially from fans of Sheridan’s other mega-hit “Yellowstone” (which broadcasts on Paramount Network, but streams on Peacock). It’s clear that Paramount and Sheridan have a knack for building robust franchises with an engaged fan base that appears to already be paying strong dividends with each new show and each new season.
But, this week’s list highlights the remarkable staying power of Netflix’s breakout show “Wednesday” and the unofficial start of the holiday programming season. Netflix continued to top the streaming charts with its Addams Family spinoff and saw its dominance increase week-over-week as it nearly swept the entire top 10 streaming category with the series alone.
10 top streaming progrmas, Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2022 (Samba TV)
Tim Burton’s latest creation continued to build interest from positive reviews and word-of-mouth in the weeks since its debut. “Wednesday’s” premiere episode has overtaken premiere viewership of “Stranger Things” Season Volume 4, highlighting the truly monster hit Netflix has delivered. In the Live-plus-10-day window, ‘Wednesday’ episode 1 viewership outpaced “Stranger Things” Volume 4 episode 1 by 15%. This also marked the second consecutive week of Netflix’s sheer dominance in the streaming category, once again notching nine of the top 10 programs.
Netflix original movie “The Noel Diary,” starring Justin Hartley and Barrett Doss also notched a top 10 spot on the week’s most-watched streaming list by U.S. household reach based on the cumulative daily reach during the seven-day measurement period. The heartfelt holiday romance based on Richard Paul Evans’ bestselling book was the most-streamed holiday movie of the week.
Top 10 linear programs, Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2022 (Samba TV)
Several Christmas-related programs also cracked the top 10 on linear television, including “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” (NBC); holiday staple “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo (TNT); and the premiere of “Kelly Clarkson Presents: When Christmas Comes Around” (NBC).
Country icon Parton’s new NBC special featured a star-studded cast including Jimmy Fallon, Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus and Willie Nelson. Similarly, Clarkson’s special was also filled with singing and dancing performances from celebrity guests including Ariana Grande, Brett Eldredge, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Odom Jr., Amy Poehler and Jay Leno.
While the festive holiday programming drove strong numbers for both traditional TV networks and streamers, not all audiences were ready to get into the holiday mood. Holiday viewership across both streaming and linear skewed older and much less diverse, with Gen Z and millennial households under-indexing in their reach.
NBC’s double hit of holiday cheer from Parton and Clarkson was particularly notable for the age disparity in viewership with audiences aged 65-plus over-indexing by double digits. The programming also led in Midwestern and adjacent markets like Cleveland, Pittsburgh and St. Louis which were particularly excited to get into the holiday cheer, over-indexing across most of the holiday programs featured. Meanwhile, major California markets embraced a far more “bah-humbug” approach as Los Angeles and San Francisco tuned in well below national averages.
Top broadcast news programs, Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2022 (Samba TV)
Turning to the weekly nightly news races, David Muir and team reclaimed the top spot for ABC followed by “The NBC Nightly News” and “The CBS Evening News” for cumulative weekly viewership.
Dallas Lawrence is the SVP and head of communications and brand at Samba TV, a WrapPRO partner. For more from Samba TV, click here.
Samba TV uses television technology to power real-time insights, measurement and audience targeting to enable marketing efficiency and effectiveness. Samba TV’s proprietary first-party data from tens of millions of opted-in TVs, across more than 20 TV brands sold in over 100 countries, provides advertisers and media companies a unified view of the entire consumer journey, including currency-grade measurement derived from a 3M household research panel balanced and weighted to the U.S. census.
Samba TV
Samba TV uses television technology to power real-time insights, measurement and audience targeting to enable marketing efficiency and effectiveness. Samba TV’s proprietary first-party data from tens of millions of opted-in TVs, across more than 20 TV brands sold in over 100 countries, provides advertisers and media companies a unified view of the entire consumer journey, including currency-grade measurement derived from a 3M household research panel balanced and weighted to the U.S. census.