Trying to get an accurate read of the numbers drawn in by shows exclusive to streaming has always been tricky. Netflix are happy to shout from the rooftops when one of their in-house originals draws in massive amounts of viewers, but unless it performs well, the platform tends to keep the data under wraps.
Similarly, Disney Plus has never divulged specific figures for how well the likes of Pixar’s Soul, the live-action Mulan remake or the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s WandaVision have fared, leaving it up to data analysts and the Nielsen ratings to try and piece whatever information together than they can.
Netflix recently passed 200 million subscribers worldwide, while Disney Plus hit the 90 million mark three years ahead of schedule, and based entirely on the size of their customer bases, WandaVision probably hasn’t drawn in the same volume of viewers as Bridgerton, which became the former’s most-watched original series ever after being streamed by 82 million households in the first four weeks it was available.
However, Variety Intelligence Platform have recently published data from analytics provider TVision, and after crunching the numbers, they’ve determined that the MCU’s first episodic show is more popular than Shonda Rhimes’ period drama. The company give every series an ‘indexed audience figure,’ which is determined by viewer impressions. The more popular the project, the higher the number.
In January, WandaVision scored an indexed audience size of 8127, which was far ahead of Bridgerton‘s 6808. Of course, the entirety of Netflix’s phenomenon dropped all at once, so it was binged a lot quicker, while the finale of Wanda Maximoff and Vision’s spinoff doesn’t arrive until this Friday, so it’s hardly a like-for-like comparison. That being said, we all know the MCU is guaranteed to pull in a ton of viewers no matter what.