Samba TV is finding that the latest offering from a Marvel live action series is coming up short… when compared to shows with smaller audiences.
According to Samba TV, a streaming viewership calculator whose methods are not fully understood or fully proven, She-Hulk has debuted to an audience under the original three Disney+ Marvel series. This is of particular interest because the Marvel live action series from last year had substantially smaller potential audiences to pull ratings from. Yet they had higher viewership, according to Samba TV, than She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. And while this website has taken issue with Samba TV’s posted viewership numbers in the past (especially when they fail to reflect what Nielsen finds from an overall trend conclusion), the direct comparison between the shows using Samba TV’s own numbers means that the results are being driven by the same calculations, flawed or not.
Disney+ Marvel Live Action Show Debuts within Four Days:
- WandaVision: 1.6 Million
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: 1.8 Million
- Loki: 2.5 Million
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 1.5 Million
The results are already being spun by other websites interested in creating a defense. Maybe it’s right, maybe it’s wrong: you decide. But take a look at how Pierre Chanliau maneuvers the data to be a reflection of improvement from Ms. Marvel… the most prior MCU Disney+ series, and also the first to drop out of the top ten original streaming series on all platforms (according to Nielsen).
It was disheartening for fans of Ms. Marvel to see the show seemingly perform so poorly in its debut week on Disney+, not even breaking one million US households in a five-day period. However, many blamed the series for streaming on the same day as Obi-Wan Kenobi, which would explain why She-Hulk: Attorney at Law suddenly changed from premiering on Wednesdays to Thursdays.
This is something that many would say should have been done since Disney+ was launched, which now stops She-Hulk from having to compete with Andor when it eventually debuts on Disney+ on Wednesdays. Unfortunately, She-Hulk was also review bombed to an even greater degree than even Ms. Marvel.
— Pierre Chanliau, The Direct
Here’s the problem: this is apples and oranges. Samba TV is measuring for the first four-days, period. Nielsen is measuring weekly. Jumping from one to the other and claiming that would have changed Samba TV’s stats doesn’t make sense. The bottom line is that the Marvel shows have been dropping in viewership according to Samba TV’s consistent methods, as well as dropping in Nielsen’s findings even when Nielsen finds the trends are worse than Samba TV consistently.
Beating Ms. Marvel, which was a tremendous failure for viewership, isn’t much of a cause for “huzzah”. And seeing that She-Hulk can’t top WandaVision, which launched early in Disney+’s lifespan when the service had far less viewers to pull from… well, unless you’re trying to spin the thing, it’s nothing but negative. If Marvel shows were pulling the same percentage of Disney+ viewers today as they were last year, the viewership for She-Hulk should be over three-million.
Everyone has an opinion though and is entitled to disagree. If I were Disney, I don’t think I’d be thrilled.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let me know your thoughts.
