The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power might have had a strong start for Prime Video, but recently released yearly numbers from Nielsen show the series failed to break into the Top 15 Streaming Programs of 2022, and it wasn’t even the most watched Prime Video series.
If you recall, Amazon and Prime Video touted the show’s premiere “attracted more than 25 million global viewers on its first day, breaking all previous records, marking the biggest premiere in the history of Prime Video.”
Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said, “It is somehow fitting that Tolkien’s stories – among the most popular of all time, and what many consider to be the true origin of the fantasy genre – have led us to this proud moment.”
She added, “I am so grateful to the Tolkien Estate – and to our showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, executive producer Lindsey Weber, cast and crew – for their tireless collaborative efforts and boundless creative energy. And it is the tens of millions of fans watching – clearly as passionate about Middle-earth as we are – who are our true measure of success.”
However, as anyone who followed our coverage regarding Nielsen’s weekly release of viewership data, it was quickly apparent that a lot of people might have tuned in initially, but as quick as they tuned in, they checked out.
Not only did Nielsen’s weekly figures indicate this, but Nielsen’s newly released annual figures for 2022 appear to confirm it as well.
In a blog post published in January, Nielsen revealed charts for the Top 15 Streaming Programs of 2022, the Top 15 Original Streaming Programs of 2022, the Top 15 Acquired Streaming Programs of 2022, and the Top 15 Streaming Movies of 2022.
Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power did not chart on Nielsen’s Top 15 Streaming Programs of 2022, which tracks audience viewership in the United States via minutes watched.
As you can see below, The Rings of Power was beat by a bevy of Netflix original program including Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, Bridgerton, Dahmer, The Umbrella Academy, and The Crown among others.
It was even beat by reruns of NCIS, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Heartland, Supernatural, and others that Netflix licensed from their respective rights holders.
Not only did The Rings of Power not show up on the 2022 Top 15 Streaming Programs (Overall) from Nielsen, but it only managed to make the 15th spot for Nielsen’s 2022 Top 15 Streaming Programs (Originals).
It was beat by the likes of Netflix’s Stranger Things, Ozark, Wednesday, Cobra Kai, Bridgerton, Virgin River, Dahmer, Love Is Blind, Inventing Anna, The Crown, Great British Baking Show, The Umbrella Academy, and The Last Kingdom.
But maybe the most interesting figure from this chart is that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power wasn’t even the best performing Prime Video series. That honor belongs to The Boys, which posted over a billion more minutes watched than The Rings of Power.
A report from Business Insider last year indicated that if the show wasn’t the highest-performing show from Amazon it would be a failure.
An anonymous insider told the outlet, “If it’s not the highest-performing thing Amazon has ever done, it’s a failure.”
This insider added the caveat, “But the outside world may not ever know.”
One didn’t need to see these viewership numbers from Nielsen to determine if the show was a failure, one needed to really only watch the first episode to see how much the show maligned Tolkien’s work.
What these numbers do do is act as a confirmation that mass audiences are not interested in the novel that J.R.R. Tolkien never wrote by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Audiences don’t want “something different but familiar.”
What do you make of the fact that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power didn’t chart in the most watched streaming programs of 2022 and that it wasn’t even the most watched streaming series on Prime Video?
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