Streaming Wars: Hawkeye vs Wheel of Time

Parrot Analytics reports Amazon Prime Video’s well publicised attempt at “the next Game of Thrones” and Disney+’s latest Marvel series are in a heated battle to become the world’s most in-demand TV series across all platforms.

It says Wheel of Time has provided APV “a much need boost” while Hawkeye rose to the top of the global demand charts faster than its Marvel rivals.

Here’s the full analysis:

For the time period November 19-27, The Wheel of Time was the most in-demand TV series in the world across all platforms. It generated 70.1x more demand than the average series worldwide – beating out second place (who else) Game of Thrones by just 1.3%.

However, in more recent days Disney+’s Hawkeye briefly leap frogged The Wheel of Time as the world’s most popular show, before falling back to second place on November 27 – following the release of The Wheel of Time’s fourth episode.

• Hawkeye came out of the gate strong and shot straight to the top of the global demand charts after its November 24 release.
• Hawkeye became the number one series worldwide on November 25, earning 73.2x more global audience demand than the average show worldwide.
• Hawkeye grew further on November 26 with 77.9x, leading The Wheel of Time’s 74.4x.
• The Wheel of Time reclaimed the lead – just barely – on November 27 with 76.7x compared to Hawkeye’s 76.3x.

The series’ weekly release schedules are working to their advantage.

Demand for Hawkeye outpaced demand for The Wheel of Time in the two days following its series launch, while The Wheel of Time rose back to number one the day after its fourth episode launched.

It’s likely that Hawkeye will reclaim the lead following its next episode on December 1.

A look at the time shift analysis shows both series are following virtually the same global audience demand trends.

• On their respective launch days, global demand for The Wheel of Time outpaced demand for Hawkeye by 1.7%.
• One day post-launch, Hawkeye outpaced The Wheel of Time by 6.8%.
• Two days post-launch, Hawkeye outpaced The Wheel of Time by 4.2%.
• Three days post-launch, Hawkeye outpaced The Wheel of Time by 0.6%.

Hawkeye Rises Faster Than Previous Marvel Series

Hawkeye rose to the top of the global demand charts significantly faster than its fellow Marvel live action series, all of which are finalists for Most In-Demand Series Debut at the Fourth Annual Global TV Demand Awards.

The time between launching and hitting number one worldwide continues to shorten for the Disney+ Marvel slate. WandaVision, which debuted in January, became the most in-demand TV series in the world across all platforms 14 days after launching. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier launched in March and became number one worldwide eight days post launch, while Loki became the top show in the world seven days after its June 9 launch.

This data further emphasizes just how important franchises are to Disney+, and suggests the streamer is getting increasingly good at quickly bringing its fanbase in front of its latest series.

The Wheel of Time Gives Prime Video Much Needed Boost

We previously reported that The Wheel of Time had been outpacing The Witcher in global pre-release demand, and this post-launch success for the show should be considered a huge win for Amazon Prime Video.

Before The Wheel of Time, the streamer with a potential audience of 200 million accounts had not had an original series hit the top spot worldwide since Indian action crime thriller Mirzapur did so in October 2020.

Amazon Prime Video has lagged in demand for digital originals in 2021 compared to its competitors, and Disney+ even surpassed Prime Video as the second biggest streamer in US digital original demand share in Q3 2021 for the first time ever.

The Wheel of Time gives Prime Video some much needed momentum heading into 2022, and should give the streamer full confidence in its even more ambitious The Lord of the Rings TV series that debuts next September.