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Pluto TV Gets Netflix Original Series ‘Narcos’

In a significant move, ViacomCBS-owned AVOD platform Pluto TV has secured free streaming rights to Netflix original series “Narcos” beginning on Oct. 20. The deal was ironed out between Gaumont, co-producer of the series, and Pluto TV. This marks the first time the five seasons of the entire “Narcos” series will be available to stream, for free, in the U.S.

T-Mobile joins Pluto TV as the presenting sponsor for “Narcos,” offering limited commercial interruptions for the first two episodes.

The series about law enforcement’s efforts to take down notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar (played by Brazilian actor Wagner Moura) originally streamed on Netflix in August 2015. The program will be streamed across four different Pluto TV channels, with multiple air times and different languages to appeal to and accommodate a wide variety of viewing audiences and preferences.

“Narcos” will be programmed across Pluto TV’s Crime Drama and Narco Novelas channels and its own branded single-series, marathon-style channels — Narcos and Narcos en Español. Spanish-speaking versions of Narcos will stream with English subtitles, and respectively, English-speaking versions of Narcos will stream with Spanish subtitles catering to multi-lingual audiences.

“As the adoption of ad-supported streaming continues to accelerate, we are excited to build on that momentum and align with esteemed creators and producers in search of new ways to introduce audiences to their coveted collection of award-winning content,” Amy Kuessner, SVP of content strategy and global partnerships at Pluto TV, said in a statement.

Kuessner said the deal with Gaumont underscores the evolving AVOD landscape that is rapidly gaining foothold for distributors, content holders and viewers.

Season One of “Narcos” will stream weeknights at 10 p.m. ET, with catch-up episodes the following day beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Bonus weekend marathons will be offered following the series premiere. Pluto TV will debut a new season each month through February 2021.

“Narcos” (season 1-3): From the Colombian government to the DEA agents and the policemen who would risk their lives pursuing drug lord Pablo Escabar, the series takes an unfiltered look into the war that would change the drug trade forever.

Spin-off series,”Narcos: Mexico” (season 4-5) explores the origin of the modern war on drugs, beginning at the time when Mexican traffickers were a loose and disorganized confederation of small-time independent dealers. As the series progresses, viewers are introduced to DEA Agent Walt Breslin, the man in charge of Operation Leyenda: the DEA’s second attempt to take down the biggest drug lords in Mexico.

DC Universe’s ‘Titans’ Takes Top Spot on Digital Originals Chart

A new year — and a new U.S. subscription streaming service that snagged the No. 1 spot on the digital chart.

It’s DC Universe, whose series “Titans” was the most in-demand digital original series during the week that ended Dec. 29, the last full week in 2018.

The live-action superhero series — based on the DC Comics team of the same name — generated more than 34 million average daily Demand Expressions to take the No. 1 spot from perennial chart-topper “Stranger Things,” from Netflix, which finished the week at No. 2, with just a few thousand fewer average daily Demand Expressions. “Titans” had spent the two previous weeks at No. 2.

Demand Expressions is a proprietary metric used by Parrot Analytics to measure global demand for TV content. The metric draws from a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites.

Netflix may have ceded the No. 1 spot on the digital originals chart to a newcomer, but there’s a silver lining: The U.S. streaming kingpin holds international distribution rights to “Titans” and will be releasing the show outside the United States on Jan. 11.

“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” also from Netflix, held the No. 3 spot for the second consecutive week, while “Marvel’s Daredevil” and “Narcos” inched back up to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, from No. 6 and No. 8 the prior week.

Hulu’s superhero title “Marvel’s Runaways” also performed well during the week, jumping to No. 8 from No. 14 with the release of the show’s Season 2 premiere. The show experienced a 33.2% spike in demand, and with 22.8 million average daily Demand Expressions is clearly one of Hulu’s top breakout hits.

Media Play News has teamed with Parrot Analytics to provide readers with a weekly top 10 of the most popular digital original TV series in the United States, based on the firm’s proprietary metric called Demand Expressions, which measures global demand for TV content through a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites.

‘Mrs. Maisel,’ ‘F is for Family’ Zoom Onto Top 10 Digital Originals Chart

Two digital originals shot into the top 10 the week that ended Dec. 8, according to Parrot Analytics Data.

The Dec 5 release of Season 2 propelled Amazon Prime Video’s award-winning comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” to No. 5 from No. 21 the prior week, with 30.4 million average daily Demand Expressions, twice as many as in the prior week.

The animated Netflix sitcom “F is for Family” soared to No. 9 from No. 48 with 18.2 million average daily Demand Expressions, up from 7.2 million the prior week. Again, the catalyst was the recent (Nov. 30) release of a new season, Season 2.

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is a period comedy-drama created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. The series stars Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a housewife in 1950s New York City who finds she has a talent for standup comedy. The series won two Golden Globe Awards (Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Brosnahan) and five prime-time Emmy Awards.
“F is for Family,” created by Bill Burr and Michael Price, revolves around Francis X. “Frank” Murphy (voiced by Burr), a hot-tempered, foul-mouthed Korean War veteran and father of three who lives in the fictitious Rust Belt city of Rustvale during the 1970s.

Elsewhere on the chart, “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” regained the No. 1 spot on the digital originals chart it had held for five weeks prior to last week, when “Narcos: Mexico” jumped into the top spot, sending “Sabrina” to No. 2.

“Sabrina” generated nearly 36.7 million average daily demand expressions in the week that ended Dec. 8, to 34.6 million for the latest “Narcos” season.

The No. 3 spot on the digital originals chart went to “Marvel’s Daredevil,” up from No. 4 the prior week. Demand rose 12% as the fan backlash to Netflix’s decision to cancel the superhero series continued to grow.

Rounding out the top five on the digital originals chart was “Stranger Things” at No. 4, down a notch from the prior week.

‘Narcos: Mexico’ Netflix Debut Pushes Show to No. 6 on Digital Originals Chart

The big winner among digital originals in the week ended Nov. 17 was “Narcos: Mexico,” which shot up to No. 6 on the weekly digital originals chart from No. 14 the prior week with a 38% spike in demand, Parrot Analytics says.

The catalyst was the Nov. 16 debut of the show’s new season. The reset “Narcos: Mexico” jumps back in time to the 1980s to show the origins of the Mexican drug war, a shift from the series’ previous focus on the Colombian cartels.

The drama is one of seven Netflix series to command the top seven spots on the digital originals chart. A “digital original” is a multi-episode series in which the most recent season was first made available on a streaming platform such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu.

“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” remained No. 1 on the chart for the third consecutive week, despite a second weekly decline in demand.

The reboot of “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” generated 46.8 million average daily Demand Expressions during the week, down more than 16% from the prior week, Parrot Analytics says.

“Marvel’s Daredevil,” also from Netflix, moved back up to No. 2, again switching places with “Stranger Things,” which finished the week at No. 3. Both series experienced drops in demand – 2.8% for “Daredevil” and 15.5% for “Stranger Things.”

“House of Cards” and “The Haunting of Hill House” repeated at Nos. 4 and 5.

Ranked at No. 9, Amazon Prime Video’s “Homecoming” is the only half-hour drama series on the chart, with18.6 million average daily Demand Expressions.

It’s followed, at No. 10, by Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” – which reappeared in the top 10 as it resumes production for Season 3.

The third season of the teen drama will be the first without the star of Seasons 1 and 2, Katherine Langford. Langford led the first season as Hannah Baker, the teen who commits suicide after leaving a box full of cassette tapes for her good friend Clay (Dylan Minnette) that explain the 13 reasons she decided to end her life.

She returned in Season 2, appearing in Clay’s visions, but has since said she will not be around in Season 3.

Langford told Entertainment Weekly, “For me, letting Hannah go was in Season 1; Season 2 was for Clay to let her go. It was being able to assist Clay on that journey as Hannah and let Clay have his moment to let Hannah go.”

In October, it was confirmed that Langford 13 has joined the cast of Avengers 4. While details about the actress’ character have yet to be revealed, The Wrap reported that Langford has already completed filming.

Data Analytics Firm Announces Launch of Global TV Demand Awards

Parrot Analytics on Oct. 16 announced the launch of the Global TV Demand Awards.

The winners of the first-ever data-driven TV content awards will be presented at the NATPE international content market in Miami on Jan. 22, 2019.

Parrot Analytics, a big data TV analytics firm specializing in content demand measurement worldwide, made the announcement in a press conference held during the MIPCOM international content market in Cannes.

According to Parrot Analytics CEO Wared Seger, the Global TV Demand Awards will recognize television series that have garnered the most audience demand globally over the course of calendar year 2018.

“The Global TV Demand Awards celebrate the most popular television shows each year, without a panel of judges or any other subjective voting body,” he said. “At Parrot Analytics, we provide the most accurate determination of what content people want in an ever-expanding multi-platform world, and for what is now a $500 billion television industry.”

Consumers express their demand for television shows in different ways, including social media engagement, video streaming and peer-to-peer protocols, photo sharing, blogging, and research platforms, Seger noted. Parrot Analytics that captures, weighs, and combines all of these different touchpoints into a single content demand measurement. The Demand Expressions metric represents the total audience demand being expressed for any title across all platforms, in any market, around the world.

During the press conference, Seger also provided the top-five most in-demand TV series for the year so far. The top five in each category, in alphabetical order, are as follows:

Most In-Demand Digital Original Series in the World (data represents current finalists from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2018):

13 Reasons Why
Black Mirror
Narcos
Star Trek: Discovery
Stranger Things

Most In-Demand Series in the World (data represents current finalists from January 1 to September 30, 2018):

The Big Bang Theory
Game of Thrones
Grey’s Anatomy
Vikings
The Walking Dead

“Parrot Analytics has created a fundamentally different kind of awards program; one that is entirely data-based and reflects the cross-platform nature of our global TV industry to-day,” said J.P. Bommel, President and CEO of NATPE. “All of us at NATPE are excited to host the first Global TV Demand Awards presentation at our conference in Miami and look forward to the announcement of the winners in January.”

Only one series will be designated as the Most In-Demand Digital Original Series in the World and one as the Most In-Demand Series in the World, using data gathered from Jan. 1, 2018 through Dec. 31, 2018.

Spike in Demand for ‘Narcos’ Seen as Season 4 Launch Nears

The Netflix original series “Narcos,” produced for the streaming giant by the French film company Gaumont, currently ranks as the fifth most in-demand digital original series in the world for 2018, Parrot Analytics announced Oct. 8.

Further, anticipation for the upcoming fourth season of the drama series is driving demand beyond that of any previous season’s debut.

According to Parrot Analytics’ most recent data, U.S. demand for “Narcos: Mexico” (season 4) is accelerating ahead of its Nov. 16 release. Comparing pre-release demand data for season 3 with season 4 over the same 30-day period ahead of launch, Parrot Analytics has found that audience demand for the forthcoming season is on average 318% greater.

Parrot Analytics used a proprietary metric call Demand Expressions to measure global demand for TV content through a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites.

A “digital original” is described as a multi-episode series in which the most recent season was first made available on a streaming platform such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu.

“We have every indication that the upcoming ‘Narcos: Mexico’ will be the most popular yet,” said Courtney Williams, European regional director for Parrot Analytics. “The release of the trailer for the new season served to super-charge interest and we have seen a considerable spike in demand.

Gaumont retained Parrot Analytics last year to quantify cross-platform, country-specific audience demand for its roster of established and new television shows and has recently renewed their agreement with company for another year.

The first two seasons of “Narcos” were set and filmed in Colombia and were based on the story of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine. The two seasons also focused on Escobar’s interactions with drug lords, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, and various rival drug gangs. Season three picks up after the fall of Escobar and continues to follow the DEA as they try to shut down the rise of the infamous Cali Cartel.

On July 18, 2018, the directors announced that the fourth season would instead “reset” as a new Netflix original series, titled Narcos: Mexico, set in Mexico in the 1980s.

Formed in 1895, Gaumont says it is the first and oldest film company in the world, with offices in Paris and Los Angeles. In the past few years, the company’s release schedule has continued to increase across film and television production, in both the French and English languages.

The film library now encompasses over 1,100 titles, including films from such directors as Luc Besson, Matthieu Kassovitz, Francis Veber, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Federico Fellini, Maurice Pialat, Jean-Luc Godard and, most recently, Toledano and Nakache for The Intouchables, the highest-grossing French-language movie ever with more than $450 million in revenues to date.

Gaumont also produces and distributes TV programming worldwide. Key drama series include “Narcos” for Netflix; the critically acclaimed “Hannibal”; winner of “Best Series” (Festival of Fiction TV); “The Frozen Dead”; “The Art of Crime”; and “Nox.”

Third Season of ‘Narcos’ on DVD Nov. 13

Lionsgate will release Narcos: Season Three on DVD Nov. 13.

In the third season of the popular Netflix original series, the DEA sets its sights on taking down the Cali Cartel now that its bloody hunt for Pablo Escobar has ended.

The show stars Damián Alcázar, Francisco Denis, Alberto Ammann, Pêpê Rapazote and Pedro Pascal.

‘Queer Eye’ Shoots to No. 2 on Digital Originals Chart While ‘Clone Wars’ Cracks Top 10

Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” remains the top digital original for the third consecutive week as viewers continue to engage with last week’s Season 2 finale, according to Parrot Analytics data.

The dystopian series experienced a 17% drop in demand expressions from the prior week, but still managed to hang on to the No. 1 spot on the weekly digital originals chart for the week ended July 21.

Parrot uses a proprietary metric called Demand Expressions, which measures global demand for TV content through a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites.

The perennially popular Netflix digital original series “Queer Eye,” “Stranger Things” and “Narcos” all rose in rank from the prior week, with Queer Eye moving to No. 2 from No. 3 on the digital originals chart despite a slight drop in demand, Parrot data shows.

The two other Netflix climbers each experienced significant gains in demand. “Stranger Things” rose to No. 3 from No. 7 the prior week, with a 63% increase in Demand Expressions. Demand for “Narcos” was up 57%, lifting the drug cartel drama to No. 9 from No. 24 the prior week.

The animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” cracked the digital originals chart for the first time, bowing at No. 10, after demand skyrocketed 102% with word that the Walt Disney Co. is ordering a new season of the show (12 episodes) for its yet-to-be-named streaming service in 2019.

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” debuted in October 2008 on the Cartoon Network and ran for five seasons before becoming a Netflix digital original for the sixth and final season in 2014.