What’s the most in-demand show on TV? Stranger Things closing in on Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is the most in-demand show on television. Even if we didn’t have access to the numbers, anecdotal evidence would back up that claim. Reports about the show are everywhere. However, we do have access to the numbers, so let’s take a closer look.

Specifically, Parrot Analytics, a research firm specializing in the entertainment industry, has access to the numbers. It’s important to note that Parrot doesn’t measure how much people are actually watching any given show, but rather how much they want to watch any given show. It looks at how often people mention wanting to see a show and weighs each mention (or “demand expression”) according to how passionate the person is about it. Data is culled from a large variety of platforms, including social media outlets, blogging sites, peer-to-peer protocols, and more. Parrot CEO Wared Seger claims that this method delivers more accurate results than traditional survey and panel-based measurements.

Parrot regularly releases a demand index. The one for the first week of August shows Game of Thrones on top, with over 48 million demand expressions. However, Netflix’s Stranger Things is trailing it with around 45.5 million demand expressions. A throwback to ’80s horror movies that takes several cues from Steven King’s work, the show has proven popular. Here’s the full chart.

CNet brought this story to our attention. It thinks Stranger Things could surpass Game of Thrones on the back of favorable reviews and word of mouth. That may well be true, although it might not mean much. After all, Game of Thrones is still the most in-demand show despite its most recent season having wrapped over a month ago. Stranger Things, on the other hand, is still riding a new wave of hype.

I haven’t seen Stranger Things yet, but it sounds like it could fill the Game of Thrones gap nicely.