Netflix's 'Cobra Kai' kicks over streaming-show rivals
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HBO Max (NASDAQ:WBD) and Amazon Prime Video (NASDAQ:AMZN) have a pair of dueling premium-fantasy programs rolling out week by week, but they still have a formidable challenge from Netflix's (NASDAQ:NFLX) binge-it-all approach, lately exemplified by the hit new season of Cobra Kai.
The show, an offshoot of the Karate Kid film franchise, repeated atop Nielsen's most recent weekly streaming ratings (for Sept. 12-18) - and actually grew its audience, streaming 1.918B minutes to easily outpace competition.
That competition came from the aforementioned high-profile fantasy series: No. 2 on the list was The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video (AMZN), which streamed 988M minutes for the week, just ahead of HBO Max's (WBD) House of the Dragon, which streamed 960M.
Those series are indeed attracting some overlapping audiences, Nielsen says: Some 33% of House of the Dragon viewers are also watching The Rings of Power, and 34% of Rings of Power viewers are also watching House of the Dragon.
No. 4 on the overall streaming list was In the Dark (NFLX), with 825M minutes, just ahead of a big mover in The Crown (NFLX), jumping to 796M minutes in a week that led up to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.
Rounding out the overall top 10: No. 6, CoComelon (NFLX), with 785M minutes streamed; No. 7, Game of Thrones (WBD), 700M minutes; No. 8, Sins of our Mother (NFLX), 661M minutes; No. 9, NCIS (NFLX), 635M minutes; and No. 10, Thor: Love and Thunder (NYSE:DIS), 621M minutes.
The acquired-series list is still reflecting recent power of HBO Max (WBD), which had the top show there with House of the Dragon, but also had Game of Thrones at No. 4, The Big Bang Theory at No. 7 (504M minutes) and Friends at No. 10 (433M minutes).
The original-series chart had Cobra Kai topping The Rings of Power, but Hulu (DIS) (CMCSA) made an appearance at No. 5 with The Handmaid's Tale (581M minutes), and Disney+ (DIS) placed She-Hulk: Attorney at Law at No. 10 with 403M minutes.
The movies list continues to be Disney's best category: It had the top two streaming movies with Thor: Love and Thunder and Pinocchio (510M minutes). End of the Road (411M minutes), Morbius (378M minutes) and Despicable Me 2 are Netflix's next few films on the list, and HBO Max (WBD) made another appearance with Elvis at No. 9 (246M minutes).
(Nielsen streaming ratings now incorporate viewing from six major streamers: Amazon Prime Video (AMZN), Apple TV+ (AAPL), Disney+ (DIS), HBO Max (WBD), Hulu (DIS) (CMCSA), and Netflix (NFLX).)
Netflix is set to launch its ad-supported tier in just a couple of weeks, bringing on a test of whether it can draw incremental revenue from a cheaper service level.