In February, the most in-demand show on Amazon Prime Video was “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The long-running animated hit had over 65 times the demand of the average series in February, according to Parrot Analytics data.
This underscores the importance Amazon has placed on children’s content. “Peppa Pig,” another global hit with kids, was also among the 10 most in-demand shows available on Amazon.
Prime Video exists to help fuel the larger Amazon Prime engine, whether that’s attracting more people to sign up to the service with a new hit series like “The Wheel of Time” or retaining subscribers so they continue to spend money on the ecommerce platform.
Kids’ content in particular is a powerful retention tool so it’s not surprising to see the investments the platform has made in this type of content; 20.7% of demand for all shows on the platform was for a kids’ series in February.
It should be noted that “SpongeBob” and “Peppa Pig” are both licensed IP by Amazon from ViacomCBS (now Paramount) and eOne, respectively, and that the agreements to stream their shows (and other licensed series on the service) will end or need to be renewed at some point — the length of those contracts hasn’t been disclosed.
But half of Prime’s 10 most in-demand series on the platform last month were originals, showing the platform’s commitment to producing quality original content as well as licensing popular shows for its catalog. Among these, two series have recently or are in the process of wrapping up. “The Expanse” had its series finale on Jan. 14. The sci-fi drama has been a flagship show for Amazon for years. Similarly, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” will stream the season 4 finale on Friday.
With these longstanding hits coming to an end, it’s time for a new era of Amazon originals to rise to the occasion and fill the gap left by these finales. Recent premieres like “The Legend of Vox Machina” and “Reacher” are already attracting audience attention (both had over 20 times the average series demand in February).
Key for Amazon in the coming months will be continuing to prove its value to subscribers until September when the long-hyped “Lord of the Rings” series should finally start paying dividends on Amazon’s massive $465 million investment in the first season.
