Author: Luke

Who’s been watching this fun new series? 
Older women. We’re seeing a viewership that’s mostly female (66%) and mostly aged 30+ (61%), a profile extremely similar to the streaming audiences for other historical dramas with strong leading ladies, such as Bridgerton, Outlander, Dickenson, Reign, and The White Queen.

What’s the most important genre in its mix? 
Romance. My Lady Jane is a freewheeling blend of various eclectic elements, from History (131) to Fantasy (123) to Adventure (120), but it’s the sparkling Romantic Tension (147) between core couple Lady Jane and Lord Guildford that’s driving ratings. At the same time, a healthy dose of suspenseful action and narrow escapes (Life in Danger, 116), combined with dark, raunchy comedy (Adult Humor, 116) and a dryly witty Voice-Over Narration (126), offers strong support and maintains the show’s bingeability.

How important is Jane herself? 
Very. Gutsy and complex, Jane is a Strong Female Protagonist (134) that makes waves and draws viewers. In an era when women’s only option is marriage, she’s determined to maintain her independence, her power–and her head, in a clever twist on the tragic real-life history (Based on Historical Events, 112). Her Bravery (123) in fighting back against her prescribed place in society–especially with her family in dire financial straits (Overcoming Adversity, 132)–and her Life-Changing Decision (114) to go her own way even after she’s forced to wed not only gooses ratings for the series but will also boost its chances of reaching a second season.

What else is drawing viewers to My Lady Jane? 
Palace intrigue. With a focus on British Culture (114) that’s especially appealing in America, many of the characters surrounding Jane are also pulled straight from the annals of English Tudor Royalty (128): Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I. As the story opens, Edward is on the throne and Mary and her lover are scheming to take over, engaging in all sorts of Political Manipulation (118)–including some carefully-placed poisons–to sate their nefarious Ambition & Drive (125). Their twisted machinations create a secondary pull for both ratings and bingeability as audiences stay tuned to see what happens.

How’s the show’s social buzz? 
At the top of the charts. The online chatter surrounding My Lady Jane immediately maxed out our social buzz meter (at 160) with the same-day release of its entire first season, and it has remained there ever since.

How does this audience compare to Apple TV+’s sweet spot? 
It’s older. For Presumed Innocent, we’re seeing a viewership that’s mostly female (64%) and heavily aged 30+ (83%). While Apple TV+’s other twisted mystery-thrillers like Defending Jacob, Shining Girls, Surface, and Suspicion also skew similarly toward women, they tend to run a bit younger (69-76% aged 30+).

Why have audiences been tuning in? 
To see if he did it. The show’s trailer heavily teases the Mystery (128) of attorney Rusty Sabich’s guilt or innocence, and this irresistible hook is exactly what’s capturing viewers’ attention; audiences are dying to know what Secrets & Lies (141) the seemingly shady lawyer may be hiding. In addition, his shame and remorse over his uncovered affair (Feeling Guilty, 115) and the resulting Family Tension (112) that sets him at odds against his wife and kids create a rich emotional backdrop for the central murder case.

What’s making the show so bingeworthy? 
The entire legal circus. Beyond core Murder Suspect (119) Rusty, Presumed Innocent zooms out to follow a number of key players involved in the investigation and trial (Multiple Storylines, 131), including Rusty’s wife, the murder victim, the police, and the prosecuting attorneys (and Rusty’s former co-workers). Audiences won’t be able to look away from the climactic courtroom scenes that bring all of these players together (Courtroom Drama, 132). The fact that this series spools out the clever twists of the source novel (Based on a Book, 130) is also an important driver of bingeability.

What kind of viewing experience are audiences leaning into? 
An intense one. The show places its Crime (128) Thriller (116) elements front-and-center and leans into a host of tense, negative emotions like Fear (131), Surprise (131), Terror (131), and Vigilance (131) as the high-stakes trial plays out. Viewers are kept on the edge of their seats waiting to find out the ultimate truth.

Is the show being talked about online? 
Definitely. Presumed Innocent rocketed to the top of our social buzz meter (at 160) with its first episode drop and has maintained that level of chatter pretty consistently ever since. Viewers are typing and tweeting about the central murder mystery and speculating about Rusty’s guilt.

Who’s typically watching these types of shows? 
Viewers 30+. However, while nearly all examples of this subgenre skew older, the most successful entries appeal fairly broadly across both men and women. Rather than fitting squarely within one quadrant, as many of the one-and-done series do, shows like Succession (50% male / 50% female), House of Cards (48% male / 52% female), Veep (54% male / 46% female), Industry (55% male / 45% female), The Bear (45% male / 55% female), and Billions (55% male / 45% female) land best with a relatively gender-balanced audience.

What type of viewing experience sets the most popular shows apart? 
An intense one. While this subgenre encompasses a variety of storytelling styles, from upbeat comedy to layered drama to twisted satire, the shows that stand out the most tend to offer a harsher, more unflinching look at the raw power dynamics of their respective workplaces. Nearly across the board, the overachievers draw viewers with unpleasant, blood-boiling emotions like Anger (118, House of Cards), Loathing (117, The Morning Show), Contempt (116, Empire), Aggressiveness (116, The Newsroom), Disgust (127, Silicon Valley), and Terror (137, Industry)–even the shows styled as comedies (e.g. Veep, Silicon Valley, Mythic Quest). In contrast, less successful series are more likely to lead with positive feelings such as Awe, Love, Ecstasy, and Trust.

Which common story element is most appealing? 
The cutthroat competition. In keeping with their negative emotional approach, successful power-based series tend to focus hard on the ugly, dark side of their central premise. Viewers tune in largely to see morally compromised protagonists relish in their own unique style of deception and backstabbing: the Corruption (128) of a televangelist family (The Righteous Gemstones); the Scheming (123) of an aggressive hedge fund manager (Billions); the twisted Ambition & Drive (119) of an amoral politician (House of Cards); the demented Rivalry (114) between two tech companies (Silicon Valley); the absurd Ruthlessness (121) of a presidential hopeful (Veep); the unhealthy Competitiveness (124) of a rebellious chef (The Bear). These displays of naked ambition and workplace dysfunction (Difficult Workplace, 124, Industry) largely drive ratings for the most successful entrants in this subgenre.

What are the characters typically fighting to win? 
The trappings of success. While these shows’ ambitious protagonists do compete for the intoxication of raw, naked Power (141) (Billions), many fight just as hard for adjacent desires like Money (131) (Succession), Vengeance (134) (Empire), and Social Status (143) (House of Cards). And the fact that these battles take place within a wide variety of fascinating settings–the Culinary World (120) of The Bear, the drug-based Crime Family (117) underworld of Power, the Music Industry (128) of Empire, the early morning Show Business (125) world of The Morning Show–is what makes these series so eminently bingeable.

What keeps the most successful shows running long-term?
The character relationships. Though the epic power struggles are what lure in viewers, it’s the series’ more relatable interpersonal dynamics that keep them watching season after season. For most of these standout shows, longevity is driven by compelling central relationships in which audiences want to invest–even though the characters themselves are often terrible human beings: Father-Child Relationships (111) (Succession), Mentorships (118) (The Good Fight), Parenting Problems (120) (Veep), Sibling Rivalry (134) (The Righteous Gemstones), Family Relationships (124) (Power), a Marriage of Convenience (113) (House of Cards).

Who’s been tuning in for this ripped-from-the-headlines drama? 
Older men. We’re seeing a viewership that’s mostly male (63%) and mostly older (63% aged 30+), an unsurprising skew given its NBA focus. This profile is similar to the SVOD audience for Winning Time as well as other sports-based scripted shows like Mike, Heels, and Ballers.

How important is the ‘sports’ of it all?
Absolutely crucial. For Clipped–as with Lakers drama Winning Time–the core sports genre is what’s pulling in audiences; for both series, their Sports Focus (160) is their #1 overall viewership driver. Fans want a courtside seat to the real-life goings-on of the NBA, particularly the Coach-Athlete Relationships (140) and Mentorships (141) found within each professional team.

How is Clipped different from Winning Time? 
It’s darker. Winning Time chronicles the cheer-worthy rise of a storied basketball dynasty, charting the Lakers’ ascent toward Winning (118) and Stardom (120) and, thanks to the players’ enduring renown, takes on a Celebrity Focus (125); viewers jumped on board to experience positive emotions like Admiration (124) and Awe (124). Clipped, on the other hand, in a sense tells the opposite story: a struggling team of Underdogs (148) brought even lower by a racist Scandal (124) filled with heated Confrontations (119) and Emotions Running High (118). Accordingly, audiences are tuning in expecting a much more negative viewing experience, with feelings like Fear (119), Aggressiveness (117), and Anger (117).

What happened with the leaked tape? 
It led to an important moment in sports history. The publicized recording of team owner Sterling’s racist rants in 2014 resulted in a media frenzy that brought to light a host of Racial Issues (133), not only within the Clippers organization but also the wider NBA. Clipped showcases the increasingly tense Interracial Relationships (128) between Sterling and the team’s Black players and staff, including Coach Rivers, as it explores whether Sterling’s ultimate downfall created real, lasting change. This grappling with questions around racism and racial reckoning is a core ratings driver for the show.

How is Clipped’s online chatter?  
Promising. The show maxed out our social buzz meter (at 160) with its two-episode June 4 premiere and spiked again with last week’s release of episode 3; it’s poised to follow in the footsteps of Winning Time, which saw similar renewed chatter for each weekly episode drop. For Clipped, viewers are largely talking about Donald Sterling’s repulsive Abuses of Power (133) during his reign as team owner as well as the broader racial issues his leaked tape brought to light.

Who’s been tuning in for this limited series drama? 
We’re seeing a viewership that leans female (55%) and is heavily older (77% aged 30+). This profile is somewhat more gender-balanced than the typical mystery-crime-thriller audience; while nearly all entrants in this genre do skew 30+, streaming viewers for shows like Three Pines, Shining Girls, The Killing, Mare of Easttown, Big Sky, Truth Be Told, and The Undoing tend to skew much more female (61-68%).

Why have viewers been checking it out? 
To find out what happened to Edgar. Eric’s top ratings drivers revolve around the search for the missing boy; audiences want to follow along as his parents–and the police–embark On a Mission (136) to uncover the truth (Searching for the Truth, 143) of their son’s fate. These Mystery (133) aspects parallel similar series whose key draws also depend on unraveling knotty, season-long crimes, such as Mare of Easttown (Murder Mystery, 114), Three Pines (Murder Mystery, 141), The Killing (Hidden Truth, 132), and Shining Girls (Searching for the Truth, 117).

What keeps audiences watching? 
The father’s struggle. Though pulled in by the mystery, viewers become hooked on the story of an increasingly distraught puppeteer who, spiraling on substance abuse and desperation, becomes convinced that a seven-foot-tall monster puppet named Eric will help him reunite with his son. The father’s increasingly volatile behavior (Struggling, 120), which pushes away his family (Husband-Wife Relationship, 137) and friends, as well as the 1980s NYC Setting (120) in which the story unfolds, are important drivers of the show’s bingeability.

What type of viewing experience does Eric offer? 
An Emotional Roller Coaster (136). The show shifts back and forth between the Trauma & Tragedy (129) of the present and much happier flashbacks of the family’s recent past. It is these lighter moments–along with flashes of hope during the search–that audiences find most appealing from the get-go; more positive emotions like Joy (130), Optimism (130), Awe (127), and Amazement (127) are stronger ratings draws. At the same time, the darker, more thrilling side of the story–as well as the father’s descent into near-madness–is what’s keeping audiences hooked; negative feelings like Vigilance (115), Anger (115), and Aggressiveness (114) most impact bingeability.

How has the show been faring in social buzz? 
Great. Though its trailer drop made some waves, its May 30 episode release caused a huge spike in online chatter: Eric premiered at #3 on Netflix’s top 10 shows list and has maxed out our social buzz meter (at 160) for the past two weeks. Viewers are talking about the central Family Tragedy (135) of A Missing Loved One (119) as the desperate parents search for their son.

Who’s the core audience for a successful historical saga? 
Older viewers. While a standout period drama can effectively appeal to either gender–and there are numerous examples in both camps, from the male-skewing Shōgun (62%), Peaky Blinders (65%) and Deadwood (60%) to the female-heavy Bridgerton (83%), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (68%), and The Crown (72%)–the core demo they all have in common is a viewership that’s primarily aged 30+ (63-96%). The most popular shows seem comfortable leaning heavily into this built-in older audience, whereas less successful entrants in the subgenre, in contrast, tend to aim just a little bit younger.

What’s one of the key draws of the subgenre? 
A subculture deep-dive. The most compelling historical sagas on TV share a common thread: they all excel at bringing a specific time period to life, creating vivid, fully-realized worlds that viewers can’t resist exploring. Outlander, for example, time-travels between different periods in English and Scottish history (British Culture, 121); Peaky Blinders showcases a seedy Criminal Organization (129) in 1919; Downton Abbey looks at the upstairs-downstairs divide of English High Society (160), The Crown at modern English Royalty (160), Vikings at early Norse explorers (A Subculture Up Close, 119), Mad Men at 1960s Madison Avenue (A Subculture Up Close, 123), and 1923 at early twentieth-century American History (139). For these and other hit series, viewers tune in–and keep watching–to spend time in a rich, compelling, fully-fleshed out world that they haven’t seen before, and this aspect is an important driver across all four of our key categories (ratings, bingeability, social buzz, and longevity).

What’s the main storytelling approach among the most popular shows?
A focus on family. Across the most popular historical sagas on television, one storytelling approach consistently emerges as a key to success: anchoring the narrative in the dynamics of family relationships. From a family-run crime gang (Peaky Blinders, Family Relationships, 137) to a pair of married Russian spies (The Americans, Working with Family, 159), a tight-knit Scottish clan (Outlander, Extended Family, 126) to royalty confronting succession (The Crown, Family Legacy, 152), and a chaotic New York Jewish household (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Family Disagreements, 160) to a kinship of Viking raiders (Vikings, Family Relationships, 160), the best series lean on the universality of family to keep their otherwise alien stories feeling grounded and relatable. In contrast, less successful historical sagas are more likely to feature other types of relationships (co-workers, teams, friends, wider communities) that, from the audience’s perspective, may not provide as rich a milieu to explore the norms of different eras.

Is there one specific tone that determines success? 
Not at all. The top period dramas depend on a wide range of emotional experiences to pull in viewers. Some tend toward the upbeat and positive, calling up emotions like Amazement, Joy, Optimism, Love, and Awe (e.g., Bridgerton, Call the Midwife, The Chosen); others swing negative, drawing on darker feelings like Anger, Sadness, Contempt, Loathing, and Fear (e.g., 1923, Deadwood, Peaky Blinders, Boardwalk Empire); and still others revel in covering both the highs and lows of the human experience in equal measure (e.g., Shōgun, The Crown, Downton Abbey, Hell on Wheels, Reign).

Who will be tuning in for this suspenseful drama? 
We’re predicting a viewership that leans toward men (53%) and skews heavily older (74% aged 30+). This tilt towards men–potentially because of the more intense violence–makes the show somewhat unusual among the list of thrillers that heavily feature female spies: the streaming audiences for Killing Eve, The Americans, Hanna, Nikita, Covert Affairs, and Alias all slanted toward women.

Why will viewers want to watch?
For the suspense. In the series, Moss’s Agent Imogen Salter–an erratic yet gifted chameleon who excels at undercover work–confidently puts her own Life in Danger (154) as she accepts a Dangerous Mission (125) to befriend a potential foreign terrorist and uncover essential secret information. Her relationship with the foreigner becomes increasingly fraught and loyalties become fluid (Betrayal, 132) as the situation–and the truth–become ever more complicated and lethal (Action & Violence, 139). All are top ratings drivers.

What type of viewing experience will audiences be looking for?
An intense one. The key emotional drivers for The Veil play up its suspense and tension and match the ethos of its challenging, complicated heroine. Viewers will be craving the sense of Fear (150), Anger (150), Aggressiveness (150), and Vigilance (146) brought on by its deadly central game of truth and lies, tempered by feelings of Awe (146) and Amazement (146) at Imogen’s expert abilities as an undercover spy.

What will keep audiences glued to their screens?
The tense Geopolitics (132). Behind Imogen’s covert mission is a knotty tangle of intergovernmental friction and one-upmanship among three countries’ central Espionage (133) agencies. Ruthless personalities within the CIA, the UK’s MI6, and France’s DGSE struggle for power and control while they pretend to cooperate in the face of an impending terrorist threat (Terrorism, 122), and it’s this government-based game of thrones that will keep viewers hooked. Looking back through StoryGuide, the idea of Geopolitics is a fairly rare viewership driver, even among other spy thrillers; The Veil joins only The Regime, Echo 3, The Undeclared War, Vigil, Fauda, and Locked Up Abroad in the level of audience importance placed on the theme.

What’s the show’s biggest draw internationally?
Its global spy elements. The Veil offers up a strong international perspective, winding its story between the likes of Istanbul, London, and Paris, and it’s this global approach to espionage that will get non-US territories the most excited. This top driver shows the most promise in New Zealand (123), South Korea (120), Japan (112), and the UK (111), though France (107) seems a bit cooler toward the theme in spite of its own spy agency’s inclusion.

Who’s tuning in for this new limited series? 
Older men. The streaming audience for The Sympathizer is mostly male (59% on Max) and heavily older, skewing predominantly aged 35+ (77% on Max); males 45+ make up the largest segment in both cases. This profile is similar to other action-thriller-dark comedy hybrids like Barry and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

What type of story is The Sympathizer telling?
A thrilling yet funny one. The series features a heavy dose of intriguing Espionage (126) as the protagonist (known only as The Captain) pretends to be an American-sympathizing refugee while secretly reporting back to his Viet Cong handlers. At the same time, this dual-identity tension is laced with dark, satirical, Twisted Humor (117) thanks to Downey Jr.’s parade of absurdist bureaucrats that skewer America’s sense of self-importance. In this genre-melding, The Sympathizer follows in the footsteps of other spy-comedies like Archer, SAS Rogue Heroes, FUBAR, and Slow Horses, all of which depend on various types of humor set against a spy-thriller backdrop as their key viewership drivers.

Which aspect of the show is the most important for pulling in viewers?
The spy trappings. The Captain’s Secret Identity (123) as a North Vietnamese mole and the tangled web of Secrets & Lies (135) that he spins are top drivers for both ratings and bingeability. The gripping suspense surrounding his deceit and potential capture keeps audiences on the edge of their seats as they lean into the Surprise (135) and Terror (118) of each new situation.

What else does this series have to offer?
A human element. The protagonist’s enduring relationship with two boyhood friends–one a fellow Viet Cong secret agent, the other traumatized by the North killing his family–provides the emotional core of the story (Male Friendship, 118). These ties carry The Captain through a rough childhood (Troubled Past, 112), complicate his journey through war and its aftermath, and ultimately help him decide who he wants to become (A New Beginning, 116). All are secondary ratings drivers for the show.

How important is the show’s ties to its namesake novel?
Very. The fact that it’s based on an award-winning, widely-read book (IP Extension, 121) is an important factor in the series’ bingeability. And like its eponymous novel, the show bridges multiple genres to round out its storytelling, all of which contribute to its appeal: hints of War (128), History (127), Drama (122), Western (119), Biography (118), and Action (114) all undergird  its comedic and spy-thriller core.