Streaming Wars • July 2022
Hulu Claims Seven of the Top 20 Shows in Dominant Month
Returning hits like Only Murders in the Building and brand new originals like Maggie all see success on the July Watchworthy leaderboards.
While Amazon Prime’s The Summer I Turned Pretty notched a second consecutive month atop the Watchworthy leaderboards, it was Hulu that stole the show in July. Seven of the Top 20 most Watchworthy shows of the month were series to which Hulu owns the streaming rights, leading with Only Murders in the Building at #3. The platform that came closest to Hulu’s feat was Disney+, which had a comparatively weak three shows in the Top 20.
Photo: The Bear, Hulu
Shows About Spies, Psychics, and Restaurant Workers All Work Wonders for Hulu
One of Hulu’s primary strengths is its partnerships with networks like FX, ABC, and NBC, but last month, its strength came from its originals. While FX’s The Old Man and ABC’s Abbott Elementary were both winners in July, five Hulu original series earned spots in the Top 20: Only Murders in the Building, The Bear, Dopesick, The Dropout, and Maggie, the last of which debuted on the Watchworthy leaderboards in the #18 spot. What’s notable about these seven shows is the wide range of genres and subject matter covered, ranging from spy thrillers, to comedy/mysteries, to slice-of-life dramas about the food service industry. The one thing connecting them all, it would seem, is tons of buzz and quality writing.
The strength of the Hulu’s new shows didn’t help it in the Most Watchworthy platforms leaderboards, but that’s to be expected — the cumulative effect of these shows’ success will likely start to impact the streamer’s total share of Engagement a few months into the future.
Photo: Ms. Marvel, Disney+
Disney+’s Magic Again Appears to be Fading
Disney+ may have had more stars last month than many of its competitors, but all of its series in the July Top 20 fell by some degree — the much-hyped Obi-Wan Kenobi dropped eight spots, while Moon Knight fell 11. Ms. Marvel seems to have the most staying power of any of these shows, falling only one spot since its debut in the #3 spot in June, but it’s far too early to know if it will have the kind of consistent appeal that Loki did. We’ve seen Disney+ fall before only to rise right back to the top, but without series like Loki and WandaVision buoying it, the streamer’s position seems more precarious than ever.
Photo: The Rehearsal, HBO Max
HBO Max Stifled in Second Consecutive Month Under Amazon
HBO Max’s Irma Vep and The Rehearsal are both critical darlings getting plenty of buzz on social media, but for whatever reason, that buzz isn’t carrying over to the leaderboards. The only series HBO Max has in the July Top 20 are Peacemaker and The White Lotus in the 12th and 16th spots, respectively. With The White Lotus reaching its first birthday on July 11, it’s impressive that the series was able to rise two spots in the leaderboards despite being eligible for only less than two weeks of the month. Still, if HBO can’t find its next hit, it seems unlikely the company will be able to pin down Amazon again after falling to fourth place in June.
Photo: Loot, Apple TV+
Apple TV+ Has Hits, But Can Any of Them Stick?
We’ve seen plenty of Apple TV+ series on the Watchworthy Top 20: Foundation and Invasion had strong runs at the end of last year; The Afterparty made a splash in February; Shining Girls made an appearance in March. But the problem for this up-and-coming streamer is that these series fail to maintain the interest of Watchworthy users — even the celebrated Severance wasn’t able to stay inside the Top 20 past June. Black Bird had a stronger debut than most new series, and Loot rose an impressive 28 spots in its second month on the air. There’s reason for optimism, but Apple’s pattern suggests these series won’t hold our attention for long.
Our Methodology
In 30 seconds, our Watchworthy recommendation app learns your taste in TV and gives every show a “Worthy Score” specifically for you: the higher a given show’s Worthy Score, the more likely it is you will enjoy that show. Each month we track user engagement across thousands of series for every major streaming service. All of these signals are combined into a single metric called Watchworthy Engagement. This enables Ranker to determine which service’s content has the highest engagement — in other words, the streaming platforms who are winning the Streaming Wars.
The Top 20 shows measures which new series (premiered two years ago or later) are garnering the most Engagement from our users month to month. The most Watchworthy platform measures Engagement across all TV shows, new and old, and aggregates them according to the platform they stream on.
