We here at WiC have really been enjoying the third season of The Wheel of Time, based on the epic fantasy book series by Robert Jordan. Jordan's books are beloved by millions of people around the world, and it's terrific to see them come to life. With the third season of the show easily the best the series so far, we have hope that the cast and crew are prepared to tell the whole story...if Amazon allows them to get that far.
We still don't know if The Wheel of Time will get renewed for a fourth season, let alone whether it get enough seasons to finish adapting Jordan's very long book series. Star Rosamund Pike (Moiraine) has been out there hyping the show up, but ultimately Amazon will only renew it if the viewership is there.
Like most streaming services, Prime Video keeps its viewing numbers under wraps; we can only tell how a show is doing through inference and deduction. For instance, they do list the top 10 most watched TV shows on their platform every day. In the U.S., The Wheel of Time has consistently been in the top 5 since season 3 premiered last month, but it hasn't broken into the number one spot. As I write this, it's in fourth place, behind new show The Bondsman — which dropped all eight of its episodes at once last week — the biblical drama House of David, and Reacher, the biggest hit on the service. It's not an awful placement, but if you're hoping for a renewal, you want the show to place higher.
And in several countries around the world, it is! According to global fans posting on The Wheel of Time show subreddit over the past week, the series has been in the number one spot in countries like Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, France, Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Philippines, Greece and India. (The ones I linked to have photographic proof while the others are self-reported in the comments.)
The news about India is particularly encouraging. There are 1.438 billion people that country, around 18% of the world's population; that's a market you want to dominate.
Of course, a smaller percentage of people in India have streaming subscriptions than in a country like the United States, so this data isn't ironclad proof of anything. Again, Amazon keeps its exact viewing numbers to itself. Still, I'll take encouragement where I can find it. According to Flix Patrol, which synthesizing streaming data from around the world, The Wheel of Time is currently the second most popular show on Prime Video, behind The Bondsman.
All I can do is hope that this adds up to a renewal for The Wheel of Time! Amazon make us happy and tell this story in full!
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