It's been a busy week on streaming, as the fall season begins to heat up, and several high-profile hits return for new seasons. The returns of old favorites proves a new challenge for some of the remaining dominant summer shows, shaking up streaming charts that have been stagnant for weeks.
Hulu:
If you needed any more proof that the summer TV season is over, look no further. Hulu's chart has been reinvigorated by the return of just a few hits of broadcast TV. Chief among them was High Potential, which was already rising up the charts in the days before its premiere, but went straight to #1 after it returned, not leaving the top spot since. Dancing with the Stars also looked strong for a reality show that thrives on live viewing, peaking at #2 on Hulu this week and not leaving the top five in the three full days since its premiere. 20/20 doesn't officially debut a new season until next week, but it aired a new episode last week, and that was enough to push it to #1 on Hulu for two days, staying in the top ten for all but one day this week. General Hospital also hit #1, contributing a strong few months for the series. It dropped to #7 at its worst point. Celebrity Family Feud charted four days this week, peaking at #12. An ABC News special about the legendary actor Robert Redford charted for one day (at least, so far) at #13. The View made a brief appearance on the chart this week, and Good Morning America made two. The only non-ABC show to top the Hulu chart this week was Alien: Earth. It was a dominant presence on Hulu for the first five weeks of the season, but it hasn't been able to hold onto that top spot against the influx of new competition. In fact, aside from its sole day at #1, it ranged between third and sixth on the chart, when it had only fallen below #2 once before this week. It's still doing solidly, but it does look like the lack of real competition made it look like it was doing a bit better than it perhaps was. It was also a busy week for Hulu originals. Futurama returned for a new season, its first season being released in a binge format. It didn't do all that well, debuting at #3 on the chart spending only three days in the top ten and ending the week at #14. That's far worse than the King of the Hill revival, being on track to depart the top fifteen entirely sometime next week, while that show spent roughly a month on the chart. Only Murders in the Building is performing only decently so far, with the #1 spot continuing to prove elusive for it. It did spend three days at #2 this week, though, and spent six days in the top five (it dropped to #7 on the chart on Saturday, its worst showing of this still-young season). The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox peaked at #5 this week, spending most of the week at either fifth or eighth on the chart, but dropping down to eleventh on Saturday. Legal drama Reasonable Doubt debuted a new season this week, entering at #2 for its first full day on the chart and slipping to #3 the next day. Fox had several debuts of its own this week, most notably, sophomore drama Doc. The show, a breakout success for Fox last season, had a post-NFL preview and will be re-run in its regular time slot next week, not airing another new episode until September 30. It's been on the chart since its debut, starting at #5 and slipping to #10 by the end of the week. This isn't much different than its performance in season one, which is a pretty encouraging sign for it. The other premieres on Fox weren't as high-profile, but Celebrity Weakest Link and Name That Tune did both manage to make the chart for a single day. The 1% Club ended this week, charting a single day at #11 - worse than its showing last week. MasterChef also ended its season. It had its worst showing of the season, charting four days and peaking at #7 - caused by a combination of airing a recap episode last week and facing increased competition. Freeform's Project Runway continued to perform well, charting the entire week and peaking at #2.
Disney+:
It's been mostly dethroned on Hulu, but Alien: Earth remained the dominant series on Disney+, topping their TV chart for six of seven days this week. This was our first week-long snapshot of the Disney+ TV chart, as it was introduced halfway through last week, meaning we won't get any weeks where only one or two shows are on the Disney+ chart any further. The only show to stop Alien: Earth from a full-on sweep was LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past, an animated miniseries that debuted straight at #1. High Potential was one of the few ABC series that would consistently break onto the chart last season, and it's no surprise that it was already looking strong on Disney+ in its first week of season two. It was charting even before its premiere, but it jumped several spots after the premiere, and has now spent three straight days at #2. Its lead-in, Dancing with the Stars, only charted one day this week on Disney+, but its "official podcast," hosted by last seasons's winner, also charted. Both spent one day at #4 on the chart. Hulu's Only Murders in the Building charted every day this week, peaking at #2 and dropping as low as #6. Reasonable Doubt charted for the last two days of the week, starting at tenth on the chart and rising to #9 the next day. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox charted for a single day. Fox put a single show on the chart: Celebrity Weakest Link. The game show lasted two days, debuting at #2 and dropping to 35 the next day before disappearing altogether. Several kids shows made the chart this week, including Iron Man and His Awesome Friends, Zootopia+ and Minnie's Bow-Toons. Disney+ originals that are either ended or aren't currently airing new episodes, like Dream Productions, Ironheart, Percy Jackson & the Olympians and Andor (no doubt boosted by its major Emmy win for writing on Sunday) all made the chart this week for varying lengths of time. Disney Channel's Electric Bloom aired the first half of season one on the linear network over this summer, but made its Disney+ debut this week. It entered strong at #3 and has remained on the chart for the next two days.
Peacock:
Note: Peacock's top 10 chart updates throughout the day. For consistency, all data collection is done daily at 2 PM.
Paramount+:
It was pretty much business as usual for Paramount+ this week, and that included South Park returning to the #1 spot for a full week. Yes, after two weeks of NCIS: Tony & Ziva keeping the show from accomplishing a clean sweep, the long-running cartoon was back to #1 throughout the week, all without airing a new episode since September 3. As for Tony & Ziva? While a strong performer no doubt, this was a down week for the show, peaking at #4 on the chart and ranging from fourth to sixth place on the chart all week. The original NCIS outperformed it all week, despite still being on hiatus. Big Brother only aired two episodes this week, but peaked at #2 after both of those aired, charting around 7th place for the rest of the week. Tulsa King is back for a new season this Sunday, and the hype for a new season has already been building on the Paramount+ chart. The show charted all week, and rose as the week went on, ending the week at #7. The Daily Show made its first appearance on the Paramount+ chart since this article series began nearly one year ago, doing so after Jon Stewart abruptly decided to anchor the show on Thursday rather than waiting for his usual Monday night hosting gig in the aftermath of ABC's controversial suspension of fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds departed the chart two days into the week. Blue Bloods, Everybody Loves Raymond, Ghosts and Dexter all made appearances on the chart this week as well.
Note: As with Peacock, Paramount+'s top 10 chart updates throughout the day. For consistency, all data collection is done daily at 2 PM.
HBO Max:
Task topped the chart more days this week than Peacemaker did, a reversal of last week. The HBO Sunday night miniseries seemingly built up some momentum in its second week, charting at #1 four days this week. Peacemaker was #1 the other three days, and was #2 the other four days, so it still performed well itself. Making a return to the chart this week was The Pitt, entering the chart again at #3 on Wednesday. It did so on the heels of its major Emmy victories on Sunday night, winning three televised awards, including Best Drama. Real Time with Bill Maher had a strong week, peaking at #2 and charting five days - one of its best showings of the season. Last Week Tonight didn't air a new episode this week but still charted six days, itself a major Emmys champion on Friday. Mare of Easttown, hoisted onto the chart thanks to its ties to Task, left the chart after two appearances this week. Rick & Morty continues to perform well on HBO Max, peaking at #3 this week and still not dropping out of the top five. Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship had the best performance of any series in Food Network's "Baking Championship" franchise this week charting four days and peaking at #6. Other unscripted cable shows to chart this week included the 90 Day Fiancé series, Deadliest Catch, Match Me Abroad and Ghost Adventures: House Calls.
Poll of the Week:
