Ratings Report: 'Squid Game' Is King Of Netflix, 'Power Book III' Season One Ends With Little Fanfare
Broadcast: The Wonder Years
The re-imagining of the original 1988 classic drew a very respectable amount of viewers for its mid-week season premiere. Produced by Fred Savage, the original star of the 1988 series. The Wonder Years (2021) lead by Dule Hill and narrated by Don Cheadle, the premiere jumped out to a 3.2 million viewer premier and then a bit of a drop in viewers the next week for a total average of 2.9 million over the two episodes and has a potential to pick up more viewers as the season goes on, the showrunners have hinted that the show will cover major historical events from 1968 including the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, an event not usually depicted in mainstream shows.
Cable: Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Power Book III: Raising Kanan finished its run of its inaugural season averaging 388,000 viewers over the course of the entire season and ending with season high ratings for its last two episodes with a promising 458,000 viewers. The series will look to build on the success of the network of spin off shows building off the spectacular story and success of Power which ran for six seasons and concluded in 2019. The hype from the previous sequel series Power Book II: Ghost could not exactly translate to this one as it focuses on entirely different characters about 20 years before the events of the previous two, but the confidence of the network, the numbers and showrunners has allowed these critically acclaimed series to both be renewed for second seasons and the third spin off show Power Book IV: Force will make its debut in early 2022
Streaming: Dear White People
The critical darling that is not without its deal of controversy has returned for a fourth season and had a interesting take on the film industry’s response to the resurgence of musicals and developed that as a focus this season with several haunting scenes, in Insider Magazine’s review they touch on the musical sequences, “Watching Reggie Green (Marque Richardson) with a spotlight on him as he tap-dances in front of a bunch of white characters pointing guns at him is an incredibly haunting and powerful scene.” Despite critical favor the final season is not loved by fans and while it is early before all reviews are in Dear White People currently stands at an abysmal 13% Rotten audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Time will tell if this favorite of Netflix’s lived up to expectations in its final season.
International: Squid Game
A hit that slammed its place into the number one spot on Netflix since it premiered and has been a topic on social media as people binge their way through this newest series out of South Korea. Using a concept of children’s games with deadly consequences that became prolific through the Saw franchise during the mid 2000s’. The show has taken off in popularity becoming the number one show in 90 countries, and has been so popular in South Korea it was used in advertising for the South Korean Presidential elections in 2022. Squid Game’s following is only growing by the day and we will not know how long it will stay at the top or if another season is on the horizon, but for now Squid Game is the king.
