‘The Bear’ Is Officially a Blockbuster
The Bear’s latest season recently debuted on Hulu.
We already had a strong idea that the show had leveled up, and now we have second confirmation.
Photo: Hulu
The Bear is officially a blockbuster and the most-watched new program on streaming. Let’s discuss.
Epic Heights for Season Three
Photo: Disney
The Walt Disney Company’s streaming services take two divergent approaches to new releases.
In some instances, a program airs weekly, as has been the case with The Acolyte on Disney+.
Photo: Disney
On other occasions, Disney drops the entire season at once, allowing guests to binge-watch the whole thing.
With The Bear, Hulu has chosen the second option thus far, and the results speak for themselves.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
Generally, the drawback of simultaneous release is that a show performs very well at first. Then, it’s largely forgotten.
In the case of the Emmy Award-winning Hulu series, that hasn’t been true at all.
Photo: FX
The Bear has appeared on Nielsen’s streaming charts multiple times this year despite not releasing a new episode since last summer.
So, we had a strong belief that the show’s popularity was surging.
Photo: Hulu
Disney had indicated as much with a recent press release, but now we have the data support as well.
For the week of June 24th through June 30th, The Bear was the most popular program on the Originals chart.
Photo: Hulu
In fact, the show was the third most-watched offering on streaming services as a whole. It even beat Bluey!
During the first week of The Bear season three, the show claimed 1.23 billion viewer minutes.
Photo: Variety
Remarkably, that’s a growth of nearly 23 percent from season two, which managed right at 1 billion minutes during its first week on Hulu.
That season would lead to ten Emmy Awards, the most of any series last year.
Photo: Hulu
The momentum for season three has propelled The Bear to a record-setting 23 Emmy nominations.
In short, Hulu’s most popular program is both a blockbuster hit and arguably the most critically acclaimed series.
Photo: Hulu
Not coincidentally, more people are watching…and you should, too! It’s exceptional.
We Were All Streaming That Week
Image: The Wall Street Journal
Not all streaming charts are created equal, and this week’s ratings prove that point.
I guess we were all streaming that week, as seven different shows scored at least a billion viewer minutes.
Photographer: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
That’s a rarity in the history of the Nielsen streaming charts, with Disney responsible for two of them.
Obviously, the other billion-minute winner is Bluey, which had a modest (for it) 1.097 billion minutes watched.
Photo: Disney
Bluey “only” finished sixth for the week, which is a rarity for it. The series almost always finishes in the top five and often in the top three.
However, other programs had a strong week, with Bridgerton and The Boys finishing up their seasons and Dexter returning to Netflix.
Photo: Bluey
In addition, a show we’ve never discussed, Your Honor, has surged in popularity to the point that it’s a mini-Suits.
We’re halfway through 2024, and Bluey remains the most watched streaming program.
Photo: Disney
Your Honor is Bluey’s biggest threat at the moment, as its past six weeks of streaming viewers’ minutes are outstanding.
For that matter, so are Bridgerton’s. Still, my money’s on Bluey, whose minisodes came out a few days after this chart ended.
Disney’s Other Streaming Hits
Photo: The New York Post
There was a bit of a summer halo effect on all the popular streaming shows during the week in question.
People simply streamed more content, and it shows in the data.
Image Credit: ABC
On the Acquired chart, which Disney often dominates, it claimed half the top ten.
One title was Bluey, while Hulu’s Grey’s Anatomy delivered its typically strong viewer total of 956 million viewer minutes.
Credit: ABC
Right behind Grey’s were the Animation Domination hits, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers.
Those shows tallied 892 million and 783 million viewer minutes, respectively.
Criminal Minds
In between them was Criminal Minds, which managed 863 million minutes. And I should add that Hulu had one other Originals chart hit.
Love Island technically streams on Hulu, although I strongly suspect that 90 percent of viewers watch it on Netflix.
Photo: Disney/Pixar
Anyway, the super-trashy reality show claimed 521 million minutes. Aim higher, people!
Finally, on the Movies chart, if I told you that two Disney+ programs made the list, I suspect you could guess which ones.
Image: Pixar
Yes, Inside Out once again appeared, although it slipped a bit to 498 million viewer minutes.
By this point, Inside Out 2 had been in theaters long enough that the wave had crested.
Photo: Disney
Meanwhile, Moana managed another 220 million viewer minutes.
As an aside, one of the hidden strengths of Moana is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s soundtrack.
Photo: Marvel
I was thinking about that while watching Deadpool & Wolverine, as a packed auditorium instinctively hummed along with the trailer music to Mufasa: The Lion King.
Don’t be surprised if that one breaks out due to the potent Beyonce/Miranda combo.
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