‘Peacemaker’ Ratings And ‘Superman’ Digital Success Aren’t What They Seem — Is The DCU In Trouble?
Superman and Peacemaker have brought the DCU to streaming and video-on-demand with mixed results. The latter is definitely getting attention, if only for a dubious reason, but some are ready to call it a success. That said, we still need to hold on, as no one should be getting ahead of themselves.
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While numbers are good for Peacemaker’s season premiere, looks can be deceiving. Samba TV, which is considered the most reliable source for streaming ratings, found that the Season 2 premiere experienced a 22-percent jump in viewership from Season 1’s finale in 2022.
This is considered good news for James Gunn and DC Studios, and it looks that way when you compare it to the numbers drawn by a separate HBO series and franchise that’s also quite popular – the Sex and the City revival, And Just Like That.
The Sarah Jessica Parker-led program’s penultimate episode had an 18-percent increase in viewership, and that’s compared to its own season premiere. The finale’s numbers are even more telling, as it drew 509,000 US households.
Samba didn’t provide Peacemaker’s numbers in their post, but they have been released. S2 E1 was seen by a reported 712K households, which looks impressive until you compare it to other hit shows of the moment with IP behind them.
Alien: Earth’s first episode, for instance, attracted 1.8 million households in six days. That sci-fi series is on Hulu, and combined, the HBO tentpoles of Peacemaker’s first new episode and AJLT’s finale don’t equal one entry in a Disney/Fox brand.
You can argue that more people are familiar with Alien than Peacemaker or DC, and that the series has been around longer than Sex and the City. However, Peacemaker was supposed to be boosted by Superman’s early digital release, and although it might have, the new season’s start still wasn’t able to reach 1 million households.
The success of Superman is also in question, don’t forget. While James Gunn and Warner Bros. are touting it as a solid beginning for the DCU, not everyone is convinced. The film made money, but didn’t reach Man of Steel’s tally, especially not after inflation, tickets sold, and 2013 ticket prices are taken into consideration.
They also rushed its digital release after saying they wouldn’t. How it is performing so far on home video isn’t entirely clear, but when you ask Google, the AI overview gives platitudes about how the strategy is sound, good for profits, etc. Suspiciously, it doesn’t have any numbers to report.
There are numbers, but they aren’t sales figures, and they aren’t a good sign. Online retailers, such as Amazon, where you can rent and buy Superman, have lowered the rental price to $14.99 from $19.99. The purchase price was reduced to $19.99 from $29.99.
To put that into perspective, Jurassic World Rebirth is still available to rent for $19.99 and buy for $29.99. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning can be bought for $19.99, but that came out back in May. Superman hit digital in a little over a month after its theatrical release, and within a few weeks, it was given the same discount as a lesser, forgettable indie film like Materialists.
Warner Bros. cutting the prices could be a sign they are desperately hoping more people will watch Superman, and likewise a sign the film isn’t the hit they thought it would be.
It certainly didn’t reach the heights of The Batman, and interestingly, neither did Peacemaker, whose viewership was dwarfed by The Penguin, and the 3.2M households the Bat-Verse drama reached, according to Samba.
