‘The Wheel Of Time’ Outpaced ‘The Witcher’ In Pre-release Demand [Parrot Analytics]

Saturday, 20 November 2021, 7:16 pm
Press Release: Parrot Analytics

Amazon Prime Video’s highly anticipated fantasy adaptation The Wheel of Time is tracking ahead of other recent fantasy series and Prime Video Original hits in global pre-release demand.

Global pre-release demand for The Wheel of Time was 13.5% higher than global pre-release demand for The Witcher as of four days ahead of their respective series premiere.

This matters because attaining exceptional audience demand for The Wheel of Time could be a turning point for Amazon Prime Video. The service has lagged against its streaming competitors in demand growth over the last year, and even fell behind Disney+ in digital original demand share in the US for the first time ever in Q3 2021.

Prime Video has not had an original series hit number one worldwide since October of 2020, when both The Boys and Mirzapur topped the global demand charts following the release of their second seasons. Meanwhile, all three of the Disney+ live-action Marvel shows became number one worldwide earlier this year, while Netflix had three separate international originals hit number one worldwide in September 2021 alone - La Casa de Papel, Sex Education, and Squid Game.

The Wheel of Time has all the components needed for a show to achieve high audience demand and become a global hit - hugely popular underlying IP with a built-in fan base, a distribution platform with over 200 million accounts, and a high profile cast featuring the likes of Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and Alvaro Monte (La Casa de Papel).

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While pre-release demand is not a guarantee of post-launch success, it serves as a good proxy for how much of an automatic fanbase a show will get, and the latest data suggests The Wheel of Time is poised for a strong global debut.

'The Wheel of Time' vs Top Global Amazon Originals

Four days ahead of their respective series premiere dates, global audience demand for The Wheel of Time was:

2.02x higher than demand for The Boys
8.92x higher than demand for Mirzapur
12.7x higher than demand for Invincible
19.2x higher than demand for The Family Man

This data bodes well for The Wheel of Time because The Boys and Mirzapur eventually became the number one shows worldwide during their second seasons in 2020, while The Family Man peaked at #3 worldwide in June 2021, and Invincible peaked at #11 worldwide.

'The Wheel of Time' vs Recent Fantasy Debuts

Four days ahead of their respective series premiere dates, global audience demand for The Wheel of Time was:

1.13x higher than demand for Netflix’s The Witcher
2.16x higher than demand for Netflix’s Shadow and Bone
5.56x higher than demand for Apple TV+’s See
7.76x higher than demand for HBO’s His Dark Materials

Since 2019 every streaming service has been searching for ‘the next Game of Thrones.’ Many of these attempts have taken popular fantasy book and/or video game IP and turned it into a glossy TV show. When compared to pre-release demand for other high profile fantasy series - three of which were based on popular fantasy books - once again The Wheel of Times comes out on top.

Each of the four other fantasy shows tested hit exceptional global demand during their first season - meaning they had at least 32x more demand than the average show globally, putting them in the top 0.2% of shows across all platforms.

The Witcher became the number one show in the world less than a week after debuting on Netflix in December 2019. Meanwhile, Netflix’s Shadow and Bone is a finalist for most in-demand global series debut this year at the fourth annual Global TV Demand Awards.

If global anticipation for The Wheel of Time is demonstrably higher than it was for these fantasy hits, the show is poised for success.

Parrot Analytics

Global television demand measurement

Parrot Analytics is the leading global content demand analytics company for the multi-platform TV business. With the world's largest TV audience demand datasets, the company currently tracks more than 1.5B daily expressions of demand in over 100 languages from 200+ countries to reveal the content consumers engage with and watch the most across platforms.

As a trusted partner to some of the biggest media companies and content creators in the world, Parrot Analytics optimises content workflows in real time. The company's TV analytics products result in better production, distribution, acquisition and marketing decisions, as well as accelerated SVOD platform success.