Tiger King eclipses Stranger Things viewership numbers
By Corey Smith
If it wasn’t clear based on social media chatter, Netflix has a genuine hit on its hands in the docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, all about exotic animal keeper Joseph Maldonado-Passage and the colorful cast of characters in his life. If you needed proof, the New York Post reports that the ratings for Tiger King over its first 10 days surpassed those brought in by the second season of fellow Netflix original show Stranger Things, and even approached the viewership numbers of that show’s third season.
As for the exact numbers, Nielsen clocked Tiger King at 34.3 million unique viewers over its first week and change, versus 31.2 million viewers for Stranger Things season 2 over the same period. Stranger Things season 3 brought in 36.3 million. Of that total, 19 million viewers tuned in to Tiger King over its premiere weekend. Not bad for a show that probably cost Netflix a lot less than the CGI-heavy Stranger Things.
Of course, as the Post notes, Tiger King undoubtedly benefited from a large number of Americans under shelter in place orders due to the coronavirus pandemic. Streaming numbers have surged to such heights that Netflix and other content providers have been asked to reduce video quality to cope with the influx.
Still, a hit is a hit, and of course, a sequel — this time mainly about Joe Exotic’s arch-nemesis Carole Baskin — is on the way, although not on Netflix.
Next. People from The Tiger King as Game of Thrones characters—A reasoned analysis. dark
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