In the back half of 2024, Max dominated the Samba TV Weekly Wrap streaming Top 10. Massive hits like “House of the Dragon” and “The Penguin” gave the streamer a grip on the top spot for months at a time.
This week, we’re seeing signs of history repeating itself with a Top 10 that is frontloaded with the continued success of one Max series, the slow build buzz of another, and the season premiere of a hit that could top the chart for weeks to come.
One week after its Season 3 finale aired, “The White Lotus” was once again the most-watched streaming program, topping the chart for the eighth consecutive week. Even with a huge same-day viewership for the April 6 finale, the series drew a catch-up crowd large enough to push it to the top.
The other Max finale near the top of the chart belongs to “The Pitt.” The buzzy ER drama lands in third this week following its April 10 finale. It’s the highest placement for the show, which, unlike the aforementioned big hits, is a streaming-exclusive and doesn’t benefit from the awareness that comes with also airing on HBO.
Then we get to the much-anticipated return of another Max/HBO hit, “The Last of Us.” The zombie apocalypse story drew 1.1 million households to its Season 2 premiere on Sunday, across both streaming and cable. The show’s streaming audience was significant enough to place it fifth this week, even with just one day of viewing (astute readers will note that this happened for the latest season of “The White Lotus” as well).
There are good signs that “The Last of Us” will grab the torch from “The White Lotus” and sit atop the chart for weeks to come, as the show’s first season actually comes in fourth this week, showing that viewers were eager to get in on the buzz or remind themselves what happened with Joel and Ellie before.
The lone non-Max entry in this week’s Top 5 is “1923.” Similar to “The White Lotus,” the Paramount+ western series aired its finale episode last week, but was buoyed by stragglers and delayed viewing. It was a big enough audience to elevate the show to second this week.
It’s a rare week where we don’t check in with Netflix until the sixth spot on the chart, but that’s where we find ourselves. The streamer makes its first entry this week with “Pulse.” In typical Netflix fashion, all episodes of the medical drama were added at once, making it unlikely this show will enjoy the slow burn that we saw with “The Pitt.”
“G20” from Amazon Prime Video debuts in seventh place this week. The action film stars Viola Davis as a bad ass American President who needs to save the day after terrorists attack the titular summit of world leaders.
“Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing” is Netflix’s latest docu-series to grab attention this week, landing in eighth. It’s followed by the return of “Black Mirror” in ninth, while season six of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” lands in tenth.
Over on the linear side, the Top 10 is graced by the annual presence of one of the most famous “10s” in human history. “The Ten Commandments,” the 1956 Charlton Heston epic, had its annual Easter season airing on ABC on Sunday, elevating it to third this week.
CBS’s “Tracker” has also risen from the dead this week. After a week without an episode, the scripted drama is back to the top spot. That pushes down last week’s chart topper, “American Idol,” which sandwiches “Ten Commandments” in second and fourth with two airings this week.
CBS puts two procedurals, “Watson” and “FBI,” in fifth and sixth, respectively, while “Wheel of Fortune” runs the rest of the board, taking spots seven through 10.
Source: The Wrap / Digpu NewsTex