Game of Thrones ended its eight-season run in 2019, but according to the analytics, people are far from done watching and talking about it.
Streaming services are notoriously cagey about releasing their exact viewing numbers. In an age when so much TV and movie viewing is done on streaming, that can make it hard to gauge which shows are gaining traction with audiences.
But not impossible. For years now, Parrot Analytics has been tracking what it calls “demand expressions” for shows and movies, measuring popularity by looking at “social media, peer-to-peer protocols, photo sharing, blogging, and research platforms.” Basically, the more people are talking about a show or movie, the more in demand it is, which is a way to measure what’s popular without having to beg Netflix to just release its records.
Parrot Analytics just revealed the winners of its third annual Global TV Demand Awards, which covered the whole of 2020, the hell year that was. The awards are given out based purely on demand expressions, no judges needed. Are the results surprising? Check ’em out:
- Most In-Demand TV Show In the World: Game of Thrones
- Most In-Demand Adult-Animated Series: Rick and Morty
- Most In-Demand Anime Series: My Hero Academia
- Most In-Demand Children’s Series: SpongeBob Squarepants
- Most In-Demand Comedy Series: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Most In-Demand Documentary Series: The Last Dance
- Most In-Demand Drama Series: Game of Thrones
- Most In-Demand Historical Drama: Vikings
- Most In-Demand Horror Series: American Horror Stories
- Most In-Demand Reality Series: MasterChef Australia
- Most In-Demand Superhero Series: The Flash
- Most In-Demand Variety Series: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Again, this is based on how much people were talking these shows about online (more or less), not actual viewing figures, which we often don’t know. Still, there are some interesting takeaways. For one thing, it shows that however you felt about the ending, interest in Game of Thrones remains very high, which bodes well for HBO’s upcoming prequel series.
It also kind of flies in the face of the claim you occasionally see online that Game of Thrones dropped off the face of pop culture after the ending disappointed people. Not all the talk may be good, but people are definitely still talking about it.
In any case, people representing the winners — including HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys and The Last Dance director Jason Hehir — will be hand for the Global TV Demand Awards: Virtual Festival, where they’ll talk about the state of the industry. “We’re honored to share the conversations we’ve had with the visionaries behind the world’s most popular TV shows of 2020 to offer a unique perspective to executives seeking insights into what makes a show successful right now,” said Parrot Analytics marketing director Rebekah Zabarsky. “Anyone interested in learning how to create, produce, distribute, market, and acquire exceptional content should tune in and learn from the best.”
The Global TV Demand Awards: Virtual Festival happen the first week in February.
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