‘Shogun’ and ‘Bluey’ Prove a Dominant Pair
The latest Nielsen streaming charts show that Disney’s doing plenty right these days.
As proof, look no further than the Acquired Top Ten, where the first five titles are all available via Disney streaming services.
Photo: Disney
Still, the story here is clear. Shogun and Bluey prove a winning combination on streaming for Disney.
Shogun Soars
New streaming programs generally fall into two buckets.
A streaming service either releases all the episodes at once, or it doles them out on a weekly basis.
Photo: Getty Images/Ringer illustration
As a rule, Disney streaming services follow the latter strategy, although there are exceptions.
For instance, Disney+ debuted the entire series of Echo on a single day.
Photo: Marvel
Conversely, the same executives favored a weekly release for X-Men ’97.
Anybody guessing would expect the live-action program to go weekly and the animated program to receive the batch dump.
Photo: Marvel
Clearly, streaming services hold mixed opinions about the best tactics, at least generally speaking.
Even a service like Hulu sometimes provides a mixed message.
Hulu banners in Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Last summer, all season two episodes of The Bear debuted on the same date, while Only Murders in the Building adopted a weekly format.
Both strategies paid dividends, with Only Murders in the Building boosting its audience while The Bear won…well, everything.
Photo: Hulu
Still, in a perfect world, Disney/Hulu would prefer the weekly format, as it stretches out viewership over a longer timeframe.
Since scripted television is wildly expensive, that’s the more financially sound approach.
Photo: Disney
And Hulu just proved this point with its wildly successful release of Shogun, the rare streaming service that gained viewers.
As a reminder, the show earned 418 million viewer minutes on the previous chart.
Photo: Disney
For the week of April 22nd through April 28th, that total spiked to 608 million viewer minutes.
This seems like a good time to mention that it was the season (but no longer series) finale.
Photo: Hulu
Fans caught up in time to see how the story ended. What typically happens here is that the show charts again afterward.
Generally, weekly streaming series hang around the charts for another week or two after the season finale.
Photo: IMDB
So, we haven’t seen the last of Shogun yet!
Bluey Ascendant
I know I come across as some sort of Bluey zealot, but my confession is that I’ve watched exactly one full episode.
That’s particularly noteworthy since most of the episodes are less than ten minutes long.
Photo: Disney
Let’s just say I’m not a diehard Bluey evangelist. Instead, it’s the data that I love, and that information is decidedly positive about Australian puppies.
As a reminder, Bluey’s “The Sign” debuted on April 14th, providing the show a bump on last week’s charts.
Image: Disney Junior
Then, Bluey caught everyone off-guard by releasing an episode accurately entitled “Surprise!” on the following Sunday.
This week’s Nielsen charts reflect the first full week of “Surprise!,” and it’s not quite as good as “The Sign”…but I’m being nitpicky.
Photo: Disney+
As a reminder, Bluey gained an astounding 1.444 billion viewer minutes.
For the current week, Bluey managed another 1.341 billion minutes watched.
Photo: Bluey
So, between Bluey and Shogun, Disney earned nearly two billion viewer minutes.
That’s a staggering achievement in and of itself. Still, I maintain that what Bluey is doing is even more impressive.
Photo: Disney+
We are now nearly five full months into 2024, yet Bluey remains THE most-watched program on streaming.
The only reason I’m not 100 percent certain it’ll hold that title all year is because Bluey won’t air full episodes the rest of the year.
Photo: Disney+
We will receive a batch of minisodes this summer. Are they enough for Bluey to maintain its lead all year?
Nobody can say that for sure since 2023’s Suits phenomenon didn’t really start until May.
Photo: Disney+
In short, anything is possible, but Disney+ has the leader in the clubhouse with Bluey.
Disney’s Other Streaming Hits
On the Movies chart, two familiar titles appear. As usual, Moana holds a spot with 248 million viewer minutes.
Then, we have Wish, which is fading a bit. Disney’s latest feature-length animated film still managed 254 million viewer minutes, though.
Based on what I’m seeing, this is probably Wish’s final appearance.
However, that statement could change if the bottom of next week’s top ten is soft.
Photo: Disney
The Acquired chart is where the action is for Disney. In addition to Bluey, Disney+ and Hulu claimed the next four spots.
Grey’s Anatomy chugged along with another 1.181 billion minutes, but Family Guy is more impressive, in my opinion.
Photo: Disney+
The Seth MacFarlane series reached new heights with 973 million viewer minutes. That’s…outstanding.
Then, we had one other returning series, The Resident, which claimed 760 million viewer minutes.
Photo: Disney+
Finally, a new entry, the old USA Network series, White Collar, debuted for the first time on the charts with 717 million minutes.
Hulu shares streaming rights to this series with Netflix, which is weird because USA Network shows should be available on Peacock.
Photo: IGN.com
This one isn’t, which speaks volumes about what a mess Peacock is.
Anyway, Disney holding down the top five spots on Acquired is simply amazing. That’s a legitimate showing of strength.
Photo: Disney
Will Disney’s hot streak continue next week? I’m a bit dubious since Bluey and Shogun should slip a bit…but you never know!
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Feature Photo: Disney+
