While the forecasts from outlets worldwide focus on the negative aspects of viewing figures – and understanding that viewing numbers are undoubtedly down in the face of ever-increasing competition – the fact remains that six of the top ten Disney Plus shows were from the galaxy far, far away with The Acolyte coming in a number two with 2673 million minutes watched, behind only Percy Jackson and the Olympians with 3070 million minutes, but a six month head start.
The three MCU entries (Agatha All Along, Echo and X-Men ’97) were third, fourth and fifth ahead of the remainder of the list which was all Star Wars. The third and final season of The Bad Batch with a ten-month head start topped the 914 million minutes watched of Skeleton Crew (which only debuted last month don’t forget and only includes episodes released before 31st December 2024), followed by two 2023 seasons (Ahsoka season 1 and The Mandalorian season 3). Rounding out the top ten is the 2019 debut season of The Mandalorian which still grabbed 693 million minutes of viewing time last year.
Luminate also notes that streaming franchises — including Marvel, Star Wars and Rings of Power — all underperformed last year. The second season of Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings series was down 60% in total minutes watched compared to Season 1, and Disney+ didn’t fare much better with offerings like Echo and Agatha All Along, which underperformed previous Marvel streaming series.
But, juxtapose that with the fact that those big IP franchises were still the best performing series on Disney+, and the solution becomes unclear. Percy Jackson and the Olympians was top dog on Disney+ last year with over 3B minutes viewed, and The Acolyte came in second place with 2.7B.
Now the question has to be asked; with the second highest viewed season of original programming on Disney Plus in 2024 – only topped by a show that had a six month headstart – can Lucasfilm and Disney walk back a very public cancellation and bring back The Acolyte for a second season? We’ll be discussing that and much more on this weeks 215th episode of Making Tracks.
