Docsville

Documentary Business

Peter Hamilton Consultants, Inc

Monthly News Highlights: Documentaries in the Streaming Era. TIGER KING takes Wildlife genre to dark side

Still from Netflix’s Tiger King.
Monthly News Highlights is a co-publication with Sunny Side of the Doc.

Netflix takes Wildlife genre to the the dark side
TIGER KING: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is a True Crime docuseries that pulls its punches on animal cruelty as it dives into the outsize characters and high stakes of Big Cat world. It is emerging as the cult hit of the Coronavirus crisis?

COVID-19 & the Documentary Eco-system

Platforms: Transformation + Uncertainty

Ratings Snapshot:
Netflix’s Top 10
Most-Viewed SVOD Titles
U.S. by Minutes (All genres)
March 9-15
  1. Spenser Confidential (Netflix) – 1.25 billion
  2. The Office (Netflix) – 1.23 billion
  3. On My Block (Netflix) – 1.14 billion
  4. Love Is Blind (Netflix) – 872 million
  5. Criminal Minds (Netflix) – 695 million
  6. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix) – 653 million
  7. Hunters (Prime Video) – 612 million
  8. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (Netflix) – 572 million
  9. NCIS (Netflix) – 570 million
  10. Altered Carbon (Netflix) – 425 million
Peter’s Takeaways
  • It’s impressive that a documentary program ranks in the Top 10. (Source: Nielsen)
  • So is the relative scale: Fernandez enjoys nearly 50% of audience of the #1 scriipted series.
  • Amazon Prime Video is dominated by Netflix. Hulu is absent.
  • Many of Netflix’s Top 10 are U.S. network shows that will shift to their owner’s new streaming platforms, like NBC’s The Office to Peacock.
  • Read more about Netflix’s audience in my insider’s guide: NETFLIX: What You Need to Know Now!

Ratings Snapshot:
ZDF Germany’s Terra X Strand
The Last Hours of Pompeii (Pompeii Rising) leads Terra X viewing in 2020
2020 // Top 4 (by title to date)
  1. The Last Hours of Pompeii – 16,7 % market share
  2. Fascinating Earth with Dirk Steffens – 16,6 %
  3. Anthropcene – The Rise of Humans – 15,3 %
  4. Seven Continents – One planet – 15,2 %
2019 // Top 4 (by title)
  1. Fascinating Earth with Dirk Steffens – 18,3 %
  2. Russia from Above – 16,9 %
  3. Expedition Europe – 16,3 %
  4. Seven Continents – One planet  – 16,1 %

Peter’s Takeaways

 More great reading!