‘The Bear’s Hot Streak Continues
After a rough 18 months, Disney Entertainment has turned the tide in recent weeks.
First, the shocking success of Shogun switched it from a limited-run series into a multi-season epic.
Photo: Disney
While fans aren’t enthusiastic about sequels as a rule, the unplanned ones indicate that something was a blockbuster hit.
Then, Inside Out 2 wrecked the box office, recently entering the top ten all-time.
Image: Pixar
Soon afterward, Disney earned a historic 183 Emmy nominations, while Deadpool & Wolverine broke the R-rated opening weekend record.
Meanwhile, The Bear claimed the most Emmy nominations ever for a comedy, which is what it’s classified as, weird though that may be.
Photo: FX
Recently, fans have been forming their own opinions about whether the show is a comedy.
That’s because The Bear’s hot streak continues on the Nielsen streaming ratings. The Hulu show was flat-out dominant this week.
Photo: Variety
Let’s discuss a record-setting week for streaming programs.
All About The Bear
Last week, we discussed The Bear’s season three debut on streaming.
Fans flocked to watch the outcome of last season’s climactic events.
Photo: Hulu
Without doing any spoilers, Carm and Richie weren’t seeing eye to eye at the end.
Since Richie had unexpectedly bought into the fine-dining concept in the middle of season two, the fight felt personal.
Photo: Hulu
Thus, fans (like me) anxiously anticipated season three’s resolution to these events.
So, some viewers (like me) binged the entire season during its first week of release.
Photo: Hulu
Thus, The Bear earned its largest viewership numbers to date, with 1.233 billion minutes watched.
Generally, a show that simultaneously releases all its episodes should experience a drop-off in weeks two and free.
Photo: Hulu
That’s because the most passionate fans (like me) tear through the show ASAP.
With The Bear, that hasn’t helped. Well, not much.
Photo: Hulu
During The Bear season three’s second week on the Nielsen streaming charts, it performed similarly.
From July 1st through July 7th, fans consumed 1.206 billion minutes of The Bear.
Photo: Hulu
That’s an outstanding total for a Hulu series that drops all episodes on the same day.
Casual viewers have clearly taken notice of all the buzz surrounding The Bear, which has become Hulu’s top series.
Photo: Hulu
For perspective, consider that I described Shogun as a massive hit a couple of months ago. Its streaming total that week was 608 million minutes.
The Bear has doubled Shogun, a series so well-received that Disney greenlit two more seasons.
Photo: Hulu
Frankly, The Bear is operating at a level only matched by Bluey, Disney’s biggest streaming blockbuster.
The Other Disney Streaming Hits
During the first week of July, people streamed more than ever before.
That’s Nielsen saying that, not me, as all the shows in the overall top ten topped one billion viewer minutes.
Photo: Disney
We all knew it was too hot outside. So, we watched stuff on our phones and Rokus instead.
Like, I can prove that empirically with data! The streaming viewer totals were just that staggeringly high.
Photo: English Jargon
So, plenty of shows performed extraordinarily well. Most of them were new, though.
For this reason, Disney’s streaming programs had a rather typical week save for The Bear.
Photo: Disney Careers
To wit, Bluey had 1.097 billion minutes, which is, if anything, a bit slow for it.
Since the new minisodes came out on July 3rd, they don’t appear to have given Bluey a viewership bump.
Photo: Disney
I suspect that’s because they were only a couple of minutes long each.
Disney will need new Bluey episodes soon to sustain brand momentum, though.
Photo: Disney
Otherwise, we have the usual suspects among Disney programs.
Hulu favorites made their typical appearances, led by Grey’s Anatomy at 956 million viewer minutes.
Image Credit: ABC
Next was Family Guy with 892 million minutes and Criminal Minds with 863 million minutes.
Hulu’s Bob’s Burgers also charted with 783 million minutes.
Disney Has an Opportunity Here
Given what just happened with Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool, I think Disney should just lean into the Animation Domination stuff.
Disney’s overall brand is evolving, with these shows increasingly popular.
Photo: Marvel
Bob’s Burgers received a theatrical release in 2022, but it was pandemic-impacted. Something now might work better.
Similarly, a Seth MacFarlane universe film combining Family Guy and American Dad appears justified by the numbers, just like Moana 2.
Hulu banners
These are the kind of trends we try to spot with media consumption.
Disney knows that a ton of people are watching these shows.
Hulu banners
At a minimum, it should release more merchandise to monetize the growing fanbases.
Anyway, on the Movies chart, Disney’s two staples performed well again.
Image: Pixar
Inside Out continues to benefit from the release of Inside Out 2.
During the first week of July, it claimed 498 million minutes.
Photo: Disney/Pixar
Meanwhile, Moana, the sponsor of the aquatic events at The Olympics, gained another 220 million minutes.
That Moana sponsorship has proven utterly brilliant, with at least 28 million people watching The Olympics each day.
Disney
Overall, an average of 34 million are consuming these sporting events.
So, Moana is getting the viewership bump every time Katie Ledecky does something.
Photo: Disney
This is the kind of advertising that Disney does brilliantly, and it should pay dividends when Moana 2 debuts in theaters.
Similarly, I’d expect Moana to receive a slight bump on the charts in three weeks due to The Olympics advertising.
Photo: Disney
However, that increase may be modest since people would have to turn off The Olympics to watch Moana.
As someone watching every event, I understand the dilemma there.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
