Netflix 2023 data drop / Paramount-Charter deal / "Shōgun" viewership surge / "The Bear" S3 trailer

Plus the weekend calendar, Premier League record viewership, CBS responds to "SEAL Team" suit, Wright joins "Last of Us" S2, and more

Inside Streaming For May 24, 2024

Thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming brief! These huge Netflix data drops, covering half a year's worth of viewership on the platform, don't typically contain many huge surprises. It's not that hard to determine what's doing well on Netflix; there are lists and charts all over the homepage giving you a pretty clear snapshot of what's popping with their audience in real time. Nonetheless, these releases are helpful reminders that social media posts or pop culture "hype" around a show are not the only metric for success. So often, we hear stuff like "well, the show/film might have done alright but it didn't have any IMPACT." That's true of a lot of the biggest titles from Netflix over the second half of last year, many of which were only brief blips on the radar if you were following the discourse on Twitter/X. "The Bear" won all the awards and "Hacks" got all the buzz, but it's a near certainty that more people actually watched "Who Is Erin Carter?" on Netflix. That's not to dismiss the greatness of "Hacks" or "The Bear." It's just a different way of thinking about what shows are HOT right now. Lon p/lon-harris

1 Netflix released internal viewership data for the second half of 2023. The streamer's most-watched overall title during this period was the disaster film "Leave the World Behind," while the live-action "One Piece" series led among TV shows. More: This was Netflix's second "Engagement Report"; it released viewership data for the first half of 2023 back in December. Netflix now notes both runtime and "views," calculated by dividing total hours viewed by a program's runtime, and the streamer has also separated out viewership for films and TV shows. Other popular films in late 2023 included the Gal Gadot action thriller "Heart of Stone," the animated Adam Sandler musical comedy "Leo," and the Spanish-language survival thriller "Nowhere," which is now Netflix's third most-popular non-English language film in history. The TV chart also included the limited mystery series "Who Is Erin Carter?," Part 3 of the French heist drama "Lupin," Season 3 of "The Witcher," and Season 4 of the British comedy-drama series "Sex Education." Non-English language shows made up nearly 1/3rd of all Netflix viewing; the most popular languages for content after English were Korean (9% of all viewing), Spanish (7%), and Japanese (5%).

2 Paramount Global signed a new multiyear distribution deal with Charter Communications. The agreement covers not just Paramount's braodcast and cable networks, but also the Paramount+ and BET+ streaming services. More: The previous agreement between Paramount and Charter expired on April 30, but had been temporarily extended to allow the negotiations to conclude. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal keeps CBS and Paramount's cable networks -- which include BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon -- available via Charter's Spectrum TV platform. Spectrum TV customers will also get free ad-supported access to Paramount+ and BET+ at no additional cost. Charter has a similar agreement with Disney, which provides Spectrum cable subscribers with not just its linear TV networks, but also access to ad-supported Disney+ and ESPN+ at no extra charge.

3 WEEKEND CALENDAR FRIDAY, MAY 24 THE BEACH BOYS: Feature musical documentary from filmmaker Ron Howard, profiling the legendary and influential American rock band, and boasting new interviews with members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston, among many others. [Disney+] ATLAS: 2024 sci-fi action film starring Jennifer Lopez as a brilliant data analyst who reluctantly joins forces with an AI-enabled mech suit on an urgent mission to save humanity from a different, rogue artificial intelligence. Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown, and Mark Strong co-star; Brad Peyton ("Rampage") directed. [Netflix] JURASSIC WORLD: CHAOS THEORY: Animated "Jurassic World" spinoff series from DreamWorks, following directly up on the previous series "Camp Cretaceous." Six years after their big adventure, the former members of the "Nublar Six" adjust to living in a world in which humans and dinosaurs co-exist. Paul-Mikél Williams, Sean Giambrone, Raini Rodriguez, Kausar Mohammed, and Darren Barnet co-star. [Netflix] MULLIGAN: The animated comedy series returns with a new collection of episodes Netflix is calling "Part 2." Nat Faxon voices everyday working stiff Matty Mulligan, who becomes Earth's new leader after an alien invasion wipes out most of humanity. Chrissy Teigen, Tina Fey, Sam Richardson, Dana Carvey, and Phil LaMarr co-star; "Kimmy Schmidt" vets Robert Carlock and Sam Means co-created. [Netflix] BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY: THE STORY OF READING RAINBOW: 2024 documentary examining the development of the classic PBS educational series "Reading Rainbow," and its impact on generations of young readers. Bradford Thomason ("Jasper Mall") and Brett Whitcomb ("The Rock-afire Explosion") co-directed. [Netflix] MY ONI GIRL: 2024 anime fantasy film from Studio Colorido and filmmaker Tomotaka Shibayama ("A Whisker Away"), about a shy teenage boy who embarks on a mystical journey to help a demon girl find her mother. [Netflix] FERRARI: 2023 biographical drama from filmmaker Michael Mann ("Heat"), based on journalist Brock Yates' 1991 biography of Enzo Ferrari. Adam Driver stars as the Italian automaker, who battles with his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz), and faces possible financial ruin, as he prepares for the 1957 Mille Miglia race. Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, and Gabriel Leone co-star. [Hulu] SENTINEL: 2024 sci-fi action film about the last human survivors, living like refugees on the moon after an alien invasion of Earth, who make a last-ditch effort to save the species by traveling back in time. Jason R. Moore, Michael Paré, and Ellie Patrikios co-star; Stefano Milla directed. [Hulu] THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW: The baking competition series -- a US remake of "The Great British Bake Off" -- returns for a new season, its second since moving to Roku Channel. Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith return as judges; Casey Wilson and Zach Cherry co-host. [Roku] LINGO: CBS's primetime revival of the classic game show, in which contestants decode five-letter words after being given just one letter, is back this week for a second season. RuPaul Charles hosts. New episodes stream Fridays for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, and next day for everyone else. [Paramount+] DIARY OF AN OLD HOME: Docuseries from Magnolia Network in which the owners and residents of historic properties share their homes' unique backstories and traditions. It's back this week for a fourth season. [Max] CAUGHT: WILD AND WEIRD AMERICA: First-year clip show from Discovery, featuring dramatic real-life moments that were caught on tape by everyday Americans. Season 1 debuted earlier this year on cable and hits Max today. [Max] THE TEST: The behind-the-scenes sports docuseries centers on the Australian men's cricket team, and particularly their path to redemption following a 2018 ball-tampering scandal. It's back this week for a third season, covering the team's 2023 UK tour. [Prime Video] DOM: This crime drama series is Amazon's first scripted original from Brazil. Gabriel Leone stars as the son of a police officer who enters the criminal underworld after getting addicted to cocaine as a teen, eventually becoming one of Rio's most wanted fugitives. It's back this week for a third and final season. [Prime Video] SATURDAY, MAY 25 GAGA CHROMATICA BALL: HBO concert special recorded at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles during Lady Gaga's 2022 Chromatica Ball Tour, before a sold-out crowd of 52,000. The setlist includes "Just Dance," "Poker Face," "Born This Way," and more hits. Lady Gaga directed. [Max] MYSTERIES OF THE ABANDONED: HIDDEN AMERICA: Unscripted Discovery series exploring abandoned structures and buildings across the US, and the lessons they can impart about our shared past. Season 3 lands this week on cable and Max. [Max] SUNDAY, MAY 26 MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN: Animated Adult Swim series, based on the DC Comics characters, about 20-something versions of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen chasing down stories together for Metropolis' paper, The Daily Planet. Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, and Ishmel Sahid co-star. It's back for Season 2; new episodes air Saturdays on cable and hit Max on Sundays. [Max] BIG SKY RIVER: THE BRIDAL PATH: Romantic drama feature from Hallmark, following up on 2022's "Big Sky River," in which Tara (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and Boone (Kavan Smith) face new challenges while blending their families together. [Peacock]

4 According to Nielsen, the Season 1 finale of FX's period drama series "Shōgun" was viewed for 608 million minutes in its debut week, from April 22-28. That's the most viewership "Shōgun" recorded in a single week during its run, and a 45% jump from the prior week. More: The previous best-ever week for "Shōgun" was its premiere, when two episodes debuted and were viewed collectively for 513 million minutes. "Shōgun," originally billed as a limited series, will apparently return for two additional seasons. Amazon's "Fallout" remained the #1 most-viewed streaming series for the third straight week, with 1.53 billion minutes viewed; the show has now been viewed for just over 7 billion minutes. This marked the first time a Prime Video original has held the #1 spot for three consecutive weeks. Netflix's "Baby Reindeer" continued climbing the charts with 915 million total minutes of viewership, a 36% jump over the previous week. Several new series also debuted on the Nielsen charts this week, including "Dead Boy Detectives" on Netflix, "Knuckles" on Paramount+, and "Them: The Scare" on Prime Video.

5 FX released a new trailer for "The Bear" Season 3. The series returns to Hulu on June 27; all episodes will premiere simultaneously. More: The new episodes continue to track the central restaurant's transition from a neighborhood sandwich spot to a fine dining establishment. Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach co-star. The Emmy favorite series has been renewed through Season 4. Though it was announced that Seasons 3 and 4 would be produced back-to-back, The Playlist suggests that the cast and crew actually took a short break between shoots.

6 According to NBCUniversal's internal figures, Premier League soccer viewership skyrocketed across its TV networks and streaming services during the 2023-2024 season. NBC Sports apparently averaged 546,000 viewers per match, making this the most-watched Premier League season in American history. More: Six of the seven most-watched Premier League matches in US history were played this past season. The March 31 match between Manchester City and Arsenal hit 2.12 million viewers, making it the first English-language soccer match in US broadcast history to top 2 million live viewers. The 2023-2024 season got around a 4% viewership bump over the year before. The previous record-holding season for viewership was 2015-2016, when underdogs Leicester City won an unexpected championship. On the final day of the season, when 10 Premier League games in total aired and streamed across NBC distribution channels, they collectively recorded around 3 million viewers.

7 Lawyers representing CBS and Paramount Global asked the court to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit brought against the company by a former "SEAL Team" writer. Brian Beneker filed the suit in March, claiming that he was not brought on as a staff writer on the series because he's a straight white man. More: In a filing this week, CBS asserts that it has a First Amendment constitutional right to select any writer it chooses for an artistic project. Lawyers for CBS argue that, should the court hold the network liable for not hiring Beneker, the government would functionally be preventing them "from hiring the storytellers whom CBS believes are best suited to tell the stories CBS wants to produce and broadcast." Beneker's suit argues that writers who are not part of "favored hiring groups" -- which includes "heterosexual white men" -- now need additional qualifications in order to earn staff writer jobs, which are not required of their "nonwhtie, LGBTQ or female peers." A judge will rule on the request for dismissal in July.

8 Jeffrey Wright joined the cast of HBO's "The Last of Us" ahead of the post-apocalyptic drama's second season. Wright will reprise the role of Isaac, whom he previously voiced in the video game "The Last of Us Part II." More: In the games, Isaac Dixon leads the Washington Liberation Front, a paramilitary organization waging a war against a religious cult known as the "Seraphites" in the ruins of Seattle. The show's primary cast includes Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, and Rutina Wesley; other newcomers for Season 2 include Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Danny Ramirez, and Catherine O'Hara. Wright recently appeared in the Oscar-nominated comedy-drama "American Fiction" (now streaming on MGM+) and also voices The Watcher in the Disney+ animated anthology series "What If...?"

9 QUICK HITS Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia grabbed the lead roles in the upcoming Amazon thriller series "Obsession," based on Catherine Ryan Howard's novel "56 Days"; the series jumps in time between a couple embarking on a new relationship and the investigation into a murder that's the apparent result. A walk-on role in Season 5 of Netflix's "Emily in Paris" was auctioned off this week at a Cannes Film Festival gala; the offer was made by the show's creator and executive producer, Darren Star, though Netflix has yet to officially renew the show for a fifth season. A new Hulu dating series, "Virgin Island," will send a group of attractive and confident singles who have never had sex before to an island resort, as they attempt to find an ideal partner; applications are now open for US residents 21 and over. 19-year-old Antonio Ginestri, who allegedly releases YouTube videos under the alias "Squeeze.Benz" in which he leads authorities on high-speed chases, has been arrested and charged with a string of crimes in New York and New Jersey, including reckless driving, employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime, theft, and conspiracy. Cristin Milioti joined the voice cast of Hulu's animated Marvel Comics adaptation "Hit-Monkey" ahead of its second season; she'll also appear in "Penguin," Max's live-action drama starring Colin Farrell as the DC Comics villain. Apple canceled the comedy series "Still Up" after a single season; Antonia Thomas and Craig Roberts co-starred as a pair of insomniacs who bond over late night phone conversations. The surreal comedy series "Fantasmas" -- from "Los Espookys" vet Julio Torres -- premieres on HBO and Max on June 7; the six-episode series stars Torres as a young man searching for a precious lost earring across a strange, otherworldly New York City. Ever Carradine -- who co-stars as Naomi Puttman on "The Handmaid's Tale" -- has been upped to a series regular for the Hulu drama's sixth and final season. All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced a new partnership with DAZN which will bring its Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door pay-per-specials to the streamer.

Upcoming Events * This is a sponsored event

Lon Harris Writer Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." This newsletter was edited by Lon Harris

Discover more on inside.com/streaming Thanks for reading today's issue of Inside Streaming. Explore Explore

Share Email Share on X Open in Browser Open in Browser Open in Browser

Did someone forward this email to you? Get your free subscription here. Interested in sponsoring this newsletter? Connect with our sales team here. You received this email because you are subscribed to Inside Streaming. Manage your subscription or unsubscribe here. 767 Bryant St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94107 Copyright © 2024 Inside.com