Tag: The Wheel of Time

Amazon Raising Annual Prime Membership Fee $20, Q4 Subscription Revenue Up 15%

Amazon Feb. 3 announced it is raising the annual cost of its Prime Membership to $139, from $119. It is the company’s first price hike since 2018. The monthly Prime fee increases to $15 from $13.

Separately, the e-commerce behemoth reported fourth-quarter (ended Dec. 31, 2021) proprietary (excluding third-party sellers) online revenue of $66 billion, which was about 1% less than the $66.4 billion generated in the previous-year period. The segment includes media products available in both a physical and digital format, such as books, movies, TV shows, video games, music and software sold on a transactional basis.

Subscription revenue, which includes Amazon Prime Video monthly fees, increased 15% to more than $8.1 billion, compared with $7 billion a year ago.

“[With] the addition of marquee new entertainment like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and “Thursday Night Football,” and a plethora of new capabilities that we’re building in areas like Alexa, Ring, Grocery, Pharmacy, Amazon Care, Kuiper and Zoox, there’s a lot to look forward to in the months and years ahead,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.

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Entertainment highlights in the quarter included the launch of new series “The Wheel of Time,” starring Rosamund Pike, ranked No. 1 in Nielsen’s rankings of streaming series the week of its premiere, with customers viewing more than 1 billion minutes of the series across its first three episodes.

Additional Prime Video series releases included the new comedy “Harlem,” the adult animated comedy “Fairfax,” and the final season of the sci-fi fan favorite “The Expanse.” Prime Video also announced that the first season of “Reacher,” a new series based on the international best-selling book Killing Floor by Lee Child, will be released on Feb. 4, and that “Diabolical,” an animated spinoff of the global hit series “The Boys,” is set to premiere in 2022.

The critically acclaimed Prime Video original film Being the Ricardos, starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem and directed by Aaron Sorkin, premiered in theaters and on the streamer; The Tender Bar, starring Ben Affleck and directed by George Clooney, premiered in theaters and on Prime Video; and the fourth and final installment of the franchise Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, featuring the voices of Selena Gomez and Andy Samberg, premiered on Prime Video.

Prime Video continued to garner significant awards recognition for its original series and movies. Being the Ricardos was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards (female actor in a leading role Nicole Kidman and male actor in a leading role Javier Bardem) and three Critics Choice Awards (lead actress Nicole Kidman, supporting actor J.K. Simmons, and original screenplay Aaron Sorkin). The Tender Bar was nominated for a SAG Award (male actor in a supporting role Ben Affleck). A Hero, the foreign-language feature from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, was nominated for a Critics Choice Award (foreign language film) and shortlisted for the Academy Awards (international feature). “The Underground Railroad,” which earned seven Emmy nominations in 2021, was nominated for three Critics Choice Awards (limited series, lead actress Thuso Mbedu, and supporting actor William Jackson Harper) and two Independent Spirit Awards (new scripted series and female performer Thuso Mbedu).

The quarter marked Prime Video’s strongest viewership for live sports globally. The 2021-22 “Thursday Night Football” season streaming on Prime Video and Twitch delivered the highest average minute audience, a measurement of the average number of devices streaming the weekly game at any given minute since Amazon acquired shared rights in 2017.

In the U.K., the Manchester United vs. Arsenal soccer game on Dec. 2, 2021, became the most-watched Premier League match ever on the service, with an estimated viewership of more than 4 million. Plus, millions of rugby fans tuned in to the Autumn Nations Series, the first full competitive international rugby union series featuring the top Northern and Southern Hemisphere teams since 2019. In India, Prime Video made its first foray into live sports, streaming cricket matches between New Zealand and Bangladesh.

Prime Video debuted 28 local originals internationally, including Maradona: Blessed Dream (Argentina), Burning (Australia), Inside Edge Season 3 (India), and The Ferragnez — The Series (Italy). New locally produced series and movies launched in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Ad-supported VOD platform IMDb TV launched “Judy Justice,” starring the Honorable Judy Sheindlin, a retired judge of the Manhattan Family Court and a TV judge for over 25 years. The series marked Amazon Studios’ largest-ever episode order for an original series with 120 episodes, and it is the first series to offer audiences a daily release cadence.

 

Nielsen: Amazon’s ‘The Wheel of Time’ Topped 1.1 Billion Viewing Minutes in Debut

Amazon Prime Video surprised Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 streaming chart last month when original series “The Wheel of Time” finished No. 2 overall with more than 1.1 billion minutes streamed across three episodes through Nov. 21. The tally was more than Disney/Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings with 878 million minutes, but still lagged behind Netflix’s all-time champ Red Notice with more than 1.7 billion minutes.

Based on the fantasy novels by late author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson writing the last three novels, “The Wheel of Time,” a co-production between Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television, features an ensemble cast led by Oscar-nominee Rosamund Pike.

“There’s only one original [Amazon] title since we started measuring [streaming minutes] that succeeded that, and that “Hunters,” and it’s not exactly a fair fight,” Brian Fuhrer, SVP of product strategy, said on a vlog post.

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Fuhrer said “Hunters” was released in February 2020 with all 10 episodes while “Wheel of Time” released an initial three episodes, with more to follow in coming weeks.

“It’s a release strategy that’s really smart, and what Disney+ does also — to try and make sure they maximize their content and extend those audiences over time,” he said.

Fuhrer said the “Wheel of Time” audience skews a bit older than the average streaming audience, which he said is a good thing.

“That’s where the growth of streaming is really coming from: older audiences,” he said.

Indeed, the series skews male viewers and has the highest concentration of 50- to 64-year-olds of any title on the chart measured by Nielsen.

“It’s rare that these titles skew male, with only Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and ‘Narcos: Mexico’ above it,” Fuhrer said.

Meanwhile, the second season debut of “Tiger King” didn’t generate the buzz and viewership season one did during the pandemic. Season two bowed at No. 6 with 685 million minutes across 13 episodes.

Separately, Disney+ tracked six of the top 10 streamed movies during the week, an important statistic for the high-profile Netflix challenger.

“It’s not just that Disney has the titles, it’s that they are attracting different audiences,” Fuhrer said.

*Squid game includes viewing to English and Korean versions.
Source: Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix and Apple TV+), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing through Television.

 

 

‘Wheel of Time’ Tops Parrot’s Digital Originals Charts for Third Week

Amazon Prime Video’s “The Wheel of Time” remained No. 1 on Parrot Analytics’ digital originals U.S. chart the week ended Dec. 17, its third week in the top spot. Based on a series of fantasy novels, the show had 43.4 times the demand of an average series during the week after a 4.57% gain in demand expressions, the proprietary metric Parrot uses to gauge a show’s popularity. “The Wheel of Time” was No. 5 on the list of overall TV shows.

The Disney+ Marvel series “Hawkeye” rose to No. 2 on the digital originals list. It had a 0.5% rise in demand expressions to give it 39.9 times average demand. “Hawkeye” was No. 9 on the list of overall TV shows.

Netflix’s animated fantasy series “Arcane” climbed a spot to No. 3 on the digital originals charts. The “League of Legends” prequel had an 1.8% drop in demand expressions to give it 37.4 times the demand of an average show.

Netflix’s fantasy series “The Witcher” rose six spots to No. 4 on the digital originals chart, up 28.37% in demand expressions to give it 36.4 times average demand. The show’s second season bowed Dec. 17.

The Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” remained No. 5 on the digital originals chart. It had a 0.6% drop in demand expressions to give it 35.8 times the demand of an average series.

Netflix’s “Karate Kid” sequel series “Cobra Kai” saw a 23.9% increase in demand expressions during the week as the Dec. 31 premiere of season four approaches. Marketing efforts included a new trailer. “Cobra Kai” climbed back into the top 10, up three spots to No. 8, with 33 times average demand.

Strangely, despite the social media buzz and mass-media attention surrounding its controversial first episode, the HBO Max “Sex and the City” relaunch “And Just Like That …” was nowhere to be found on Parrot’s demand charts.

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

The No. 1 overall TV series in terms of online demand was “SpongeBob SquarePants,” with 73.6 times average demand.

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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 demand for TV content in a given market 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. Results are expressed as a comparison with the average demand for a TV show of any kind in the market.

‘Wheel of Time’ Remains No. 1 on Parrot’s Digital Originals Charts

Amazon Prime Video’s “The Wheel of Time” remained No. 1 on Parrot Analytics’ digital originals U.S. chart the week ended Dec. 10. Based on a series of fantasy novels, the show had 41.7 times the demand of an average series during the week after a 3.1% drop in demand expressions, the proprietary metric Parrot uses to gauge a show’s popularity. “The Wheel of Time” was No. 6 on the list of overall TV shows.

Netflix’s “Money Heist” leaped nine spots to No. 2 on the digital originals chart. The Spanish drama, known in its native language as “La Casa de Papel,” saw its final batch of episodes arrive Dec. 3, giving the show a 55.3% boost in demand expressions to push it to That pushed it to 40.2 times the demand of an average show. “Money Heist” was No. 9 on Parrot’s list of all TV shows.

The Disney+ Marvel series “Hawkeye” remained No. 3. It had a 3.3% drop in demand expressions to give it 39.9 times average demand. “Hawkeye” was No. 10 on the list of overall TV shows.

Netflix’s animated fantasy series “Arcane” slipped two spots to No. 4 on the digital originals charts. The “League of Legends” prequel had an 10.5% drop in demand expressions to give it 38.2 times the demand of an average show.

The Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” remained No. 5 on the digital originals chart. It had a 1.5% jump in demand expressions to give it 36.2 times the demand of an average series.

The Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series “The Expanse” returned to the top 10 at No. 9, up from No. 15 the previous week, with the first episode from its sixth season bowing Dec. 10.

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

The No. 1 overall TV series in terms of online demand was “SpongeBob SquarePants,” with 76.8 times average demand.

Subscribe HERE to the FREE Media Play News Daily Newsletter!

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 demand for TV content in a given market 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. Results are expressed as a comparison with the average demand for a TV show of any kind in the market.

‘Wheel of Time’ Rises to No. 1 on Parrot’s Digital Originals Charts

Amazon Prime Video’s “The Wheel of Time” climbed to No. 1 on Parrot Analytics’ digital originals U.S. chart the week ended Dec. 3. Based on a series of fantasy novels, the show had 43 times the demand of an average series during the week after a 4.8% drop in demand expressions, the proprietary metric Parrot uses to gauge a show’s popularity. “The Wheel of Time” was No. 6 on the list of overall TV shows.

Netflix’s animated fantasy series “Arcane” slipped to No. 2 on the digital originals charts after a couple weeks in the top spot. The “League of Legends” prequel had an 15.6% drop in demand expressions to give it 42.8 times the demand of an average show. “Arcane” was No. 7 on the list of overall TV shows.

The Disney+ Marvel series “Hawkeye” rose seven spots to No. 3. It had a 62.8% rise in demand expressions to give it 41.3 times average demand.

Netflix’s perennially popular “Stranger Things” slipped to No. 4 on the digital originals chart, taking 37.4 times average demand after a 0.8% drop in demand expressions.

The Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” slid a spot to No. 5 on the digital originals chart. It had a 1.8% jump in demand expressions to give it 36.7 times the demand of an average series.

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

The No. 1 overall TV series in terms of online demand was “South Park,” with 84.9 times average demand. The Comedy Central series got a boost after the Nov. 25 release of “South Park: Post COVID” TV movie on Paramount+, though Parrot didn’t distinguish between which demand was for the cable series and which was for the digital original Paramount+ movies.

Subscribe HERE to the FREE Media Play News Daily Newsletter!

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 demand for TV content in a given market 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. Results are expressed as a comparison with the average demand for a TV show of any kind in the market.