While TV shows have historically been wary of hitting the dreaded sophomore slump — when buzz for a new title wanes in its second season — big shows like “The Last of Us,” “1923” and “Severance” are proving Hollywood may be entering an age of sophomore surges instead.
“The Last of Us” Season 2 debuted to 5.3 million viewers across Max and HBO on Sunday night — up 13% from the series premiere in 2023, which brought in 4.7 million viewers.
Season 1 saw significant growth as it aired, with its second episode growing 21% to reach 5.7 million viewers and the Season 1 finale scoring 8.2 million viewers. It’s likely that “The Last of Us” Season 2 will enjoy similar momentum, especially as a major twist from the video game series is sure to keep viewers engaged — unless some fans are turned off by its aftermath.
Likewise, “1923” closed out its sophomore season with the biggest audience the show has ever seen. The Season 2 finale pulled in 14 million viewers globally — up 41% compared to the 10 million brought in by the Season 1 finale — boosting Season 2’s average viewership to a 46% uptick overall.
Viewership for Season 2 of “1923” not only surpassed its freshman season, but also boosted the “Yellowstone” spinoff series to join the ranks of “Landman” and “Tulsa King” as one of Paramount+’s top three global series of all time.
After a nearly three-year wait, “Severance” Season 2 also grew its audience, with the Apple TV+ show making its first appearance on Nielsen’s top 10 streaming list during the week of its Season 2 debut on Jan. 17 based on the different metric of 589 million minutes viewed from Jan. 13–19, 28% of which was tallied up by the Season 2 premiere.
While exact viewing figures for Season 1 have not been made available by Apple TV+, which rarely shares viewership, or Nielsen, “Severance” has scored a substantial bump as the Adam Scott-led series has consistently appeared on Nielsen’s streaming originals list throughout its Season 2 run. “Severance” reached a new weekly viewing high of 681 million minutes in its fifth week of Season 2 rollout in February and recently scored its ninth week on the originals chart for viewing during the week of March 10. Nielsen numbers for the Season 2 finale, which debuted March 21, will be available in the coming weeks.
Only time will tell if “Andor,” whose second season premieres April 22 on Disney+, will see the same kind of ratings lift for its sophomore installment. Its first run closed out on a season-high week with 674 million viewing minutes, according to Nielsen, marking a 48% lift from its previous Disney+ viewership.
Could “Adolescence” become Netflix’s most-watched show ever?
After tallying up a whopping 124.2 million views since its March 13 premiere, “Adolescence” became Netflix’s No. 3 most popular English TV show, surpassing “Dahmer: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” which now sits at No. 4 with 115.6 million views. Should “Adolescence” keep growing at the same trajectory over the next couple weeks — the British crime drama scored 9.7 million views during the week of April 7 — it could also surpass “Stranger Things 4,” which currently has 140.7 million views, to become the No. 2 most-watched TV show on the streamer (at least, until “Stranger Things” fans start catching up before the Season 5 premiere later this year).
It looks less likely, however, that “Adolescence” will surpass juggernaut show “Wednesday,” which has just about double the viewership of “Adolescence” with 252.1 million views to date.
“Moana 2” debut leads streaming movies
“Moana 2” made its debut on Disney+ March 12, delivering just under 2 billion viewing minutes to become the most-watched streaming movie of the week. “Moana 2” far surpassed viewership for Netflix’s “The Electric State,” which came in No. 2 on the list with 1.18 billion viewing minutes, as well as “Kraven the Hunter,” which took third place with 911 million.
“60 Minutes” soars
Sunday’s edition of “60 Minutes” scored the biggest audience the show has seen in five months, since its Nov. 14 episode, with a live-plus-same-day viewership of 9.6 million. The episode featured an interview with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as a spotlight on how Greenland has become a focal point in global geopolitics.
President Donald Trump lashed out at the network after the broadcast, saying CBS should “lose their license” and urging his FCC chairman to take action against the network. (Broadcast networks are not licensed by the commission, but their owned-and-operated stations are.)
