The top 2 in the country are good news for HBO Max:
Most Popular Show in Every State During Coronavirus – Variety
And
Ozark is tied with *gasp*
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Hmmm you know it's funny. Last week, I got into 2 separate arguments where people swore up and down that the primary reason people people sign up for these services were the exclusive original content. I said and backed up with the limited viewership numbers and the fact that if original exclusives were so important more emphasis then why don't most services launch with more originals and instead focus on gaining big shows like Friends or the Office.
So here's another article, with admittedly a limited scope when it comes to timeline, that shows that the most popular shows are for the most part: a) currently airing on terrestrial cable, b) currently airing but you can watch past episodes on a streaming service (ala SVU or Chicago PD), or c) shows that ended a while ago but are still powerhouses (Friends, Parks and Rec). If I'm looking right, I think Ozark is the only exclusive original streaming show on there.
In this time when many people have more time to stream where they can probably stream something new if they really want, they're still watching a, b, and/or c.
Original content is very important too, but it still shows that getting that built in fanbase is still more important because that's what people are watching in the long term. We on here may not care about certain shows. For example, even with every episode being on HBO Max, I have no interest in watching TBBT or Friends. But I realize that a lot of people do whether they were alive for the original run or not.
Whew.
