‘House of the Dragon’ Dominates Streaming Top 10 After Season 2 Finale

What can we find at the end of the dragon’s tail (or tale, in this case)? More dragons, apparently. After airing its season 2 finale on August 4, “House of the Dragon” was still the most-watched streaming program on the Samba TV Weekly Wrap Report for the week of Aug. 5-11, as viewers caught up on the season.

Even in a week during which it did not release a new episode, “Dragon” bested this week’s big streaming series debut, “The Umbrella Academy” Season 4. Netflix added the six-episode season on Aug. 8 and drew enough households to place the series at No. 6 this week. The first episode of Season 4 was seen by 559,000 U.S. households during the first four days it was available.

Oddly, “Umbrella Academy” wasn’t the most noteworthy addition to the Netflix library. Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher films were recently added to the streamer and made the Top 10 this week. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” from 2016, is No. 2 this week, while the original “Jack Reacher,” from 2012, is No. 4.

In between is the YA book adaptation “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” up one spot from last week’s chart. Meanwhile, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” on Hulu, falls three spots, landing at No. 5.

SpongeBob’s friend Sandy takes the spotlight in “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” on Netflix. The animated film is No. 7 this week. Disney+ gets in on the teen fare with “Descendants: The Rise of Red,” the latest entry in its “Descendants” franchise. The genre-smashing musical fantasy comedy likely built up buzz thanks to an airing on the Disney channel on Aug. 9.

“Despicable Me 4,” which was released in theaters just this past July, lands No. 9 thanks to its early availability via video-on-demand. Closing out the list is “The Instigators,” the latest in a long line of gritty Boston stories involving either an Affleck or a Damon. This one stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck and is produced by Damon and Ben Affleck.

The Paris Olympics held their closing ceremony on Aug. 11, so this may mark the final week that other linear networks fell back on old classics rather than try to pull viewers away from NBC’s summer games coverage. The Wrap Report omits sports coverage from its viewership data, but it is worth noting that 59.4 million U.S. households watched the Paris 2024 Olympics on linear and streaming throughout the full length of the games, a massive audience.

Amidst all the old classics is a bit of a surprise: a scripted series atop the linear chart. “Tulsa King,” which originally aired on Paramount+ in late 2022 and early 2023, is currently airing on CBS in the lead-up to its second season, which starts streaming on Sept. 15.

Not only is “King” the lone scripted show, it’s also the only show on the chart that’s been on the air for fewer than 21 years. The next “youngest” show on the chart, “The Bachelorette,” aired its first season in 2003. It’s in fifth place this week. “Wheel of Fortune,” which first aired in 1975, puts five airings on the chart this week. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (1989) is No. 2, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” (1999) is No. 9, and “Big Brother” (2000) is at No. 10.

The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba TV’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.

Source: TheWrap