‘Echo’ Dominates on Streaming
Echo has exploded onto the streaming charts, debuting as one of the most-watched Original programs of the week.
Let’s talk about a good week for Disney+ on the Nielsen streaming rankings.
Echo Debuts
You may not have noticed, but Disney has taken a couple of chances with the Marvel Cinematic Universe lately.
During the holidays, Disney+ aired a new episode of What If…? daily from December 22nd through December 30th.
Fans waited more than two years for new content. Then, Disney+ burned through all of it in nine days.
This strategy fostered some excitement for What If…?, which appeared on the Nielsen Streaming charts for Christmas Week.
Unfortunately, its reign was short-lived. As discussed last time, What If…? only earned top ten placement for one week.
At the time, I mentioned that Marvel’s absence on the charts was likely temporary, and here’s why.
On January 9th, Disney+ released all five episodes of Echo.
As a reminder, Marvel had filmed six episodes, but it culled some content to create a tighter, more coherent series.
While the buzz for Echo was as negative as anything I’ve ever read for the MCU, even Secret Invasion, the result was solid.
Echo earned a 70 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and lots of people watched.
According to Nielsen, Echo claimed 731 million viewing minutes during its first week.
As a reminder, that wasn’t a full week on the service, either.
This week’s charts started on January 8th, with Echo not coming out until the final day.
So, this might not be Echo’s only appearance on the charts. Even if it is, Disney must feel good about this performance.
For the week, Echo was the fourth-most popular Original streaming series and the tenth-most-watched program on streaming.
That’s a win.
Percy Jackson Fever Runs Wild
Disney earned more good news with its primary Disney+ release of the moment.
In fact, when Disney started its earnings call this past Wednesday, it led with several blockbuster announcements.
One of them was the confirmation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians receiving a second season.
Any fan who had paid attention would have known this was coming.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has appeared on the Nielsen charts every week since its debut on Disney+ on December 19th.
Importantly, the Percy Jackson television series earned an even higher Rotten Tomatoes score of 92 percent.
Plus, my understanding is that its season finale included a shocking twist that should propel the story into season two.
So, we knew the renewal was coming. We were just awaiting the official word, which we now have.
Meanwhile, during the week in question on the Nielsen charts, Percy Jackson and the Olympians gained 618 million viewer minutes.
That performance slotted the title in fifth place on the Original streaming chart, right behind Echo.
It wasn’t quite enough to enter the vaunted overall Top Ten list on this week’s Nielsen streaming ratings, but it just missed.
The series had only aired five episodes at this point. So, it has three more chances to make the overall Top Ten again.
Overall, this series is a huge hit for Disney and has probably surprised executives with its overall strength.
I don’t want to speak out of turn here, but if I’m Disney, I’m strongly considering a Descendants reboot based on this performance.
It’s Bluey Time Again!
Disney’s streaming services claimed three other spots on the charts this week.
If you’ve read any of these columns in the past, you know what one of them is.
Yes, Bluey has surged to the top of the Acquired chart with a staggering total of nearly 1.5 billion viewer minutes.
That’s the highest we’ve tracked the show’s ratings in the few months I’ve been writing this, but there is a reason why.
New episodes of Bluey debuted on January 12th.
Since this chart only covers the range through January 14th, this is the tip of the iceberg for Bluey on the 2025 Nielsen Streaming ratings chart.
Unless there was a massive opening-day binge of new episodes, I think it’s safe to expect an even stronger showing by Bluey next week.
Overall, Bluey was the second-most-watched program across streaming. Only Fool Me Once beat it.
Bluey possesses a decent chance of becoming the top series on streaming in next week’s ratings.
Disney, now is the time to greenlight a Bluey theatrical release!
Disney’s Other Popular Programs
Finishing up Disney’s streaming rankings, one Hulu title earned a spot on the Acquired chart and another on the Movies chart.
Hulu shares the streaming rights to Criminal Minds with Paramount+.
For the week, Criminal Minds finished in eighth on Acquired with 560 million viewer minutes.
Finally, we’ve got a bit more good news. Elemental returned to the charts with 250 million viewer minutes.
That performance was good enough for tenth place on the Movies top ten.
More importantly, this showing underscores the shocking staying power of Elemental.
In case you missed Justin Hermes’ article last week, Elemental was the fourth-most-watched movie on streaming in 2023.
This happened even though the film didn’t debut on Disney+ until September.
Given what we just witnessed with Moana 2, I’m more bullish than ever on the chances of an Elemental sequel.
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