The Sandman keeps hold of the #1 spot on the Nielsens, but fans are still worried
The Nielsens for August 15-21 show The Sandman keeps its place at the top of the table, but numbers overall aren’t as stellar as some fans are hoping. There’s still no announcement regarding season 2, so all fans can do is spread the word. In the meantime here’s what we predicted might happen in last week’s Nielsen review:
The Sandman keeps the top spot, with comedy Never Have I Ever doing well and a newcomer in the form of limited series Echoes. Locke & Key, Virgin River and Stranger Things will still appear. Over on Disney+ we’re also looking out for She-Hulk and expect Only Murders to still make an appearance
Here’s the actual numbers…
The Nielsen US audience numbers for August 15-21
As usual we add the columns marked ‘*’.
| Rank | Streamer | Series | #Episodes | Ep length (mins)* | Total Minutes (Millions) | Episode Watches* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netflix | The Sandman (2022) | 11 | 50 | 946 | 18,920,000 |
| 2 | Netflix | Stranger Things | 34 | 75 | 919 | 12,253,333 |
| 3 | Netflix | Never Have I Ever | 30 | 28 | 883 | 31,535,714 |
| 4 | Netflix | Locke & Key | 28 | 40 | 776 | 19,400,000 |
| 5 | Netflix | Untold (2021) | 7 | 60 | 630 | 10,500,000 |
| 6 | Netflix | Virgin River | 42 | 45 | 629 | 13,977,778 |
| 7 | Prime Video | A League Of Their Own | 8 | 60 | 574 | 9,566,667 |
| 8 | Netflix | Echoes (2022) | 7 | 45 | 524 | 11,644,444 |
| 9 | Hulu | Only Murders In The Building | 19 | 60 | 415 | 6,916,667 |
| 10 | Netflix | Instant Dream Home | 8 | 60 | 395 | 9,186,047 |
The Sandman keeps hold of the top spot… but is it enough?
Not quite reaching a billion minutes, The Sandman manages to overtake Stranger Things and season 3 of Never Have I Ever. While being #1 is clearly a good thing, the numbers aren’t peaking high enough to convince fans the show might get renewed. The Sandman Twitter account also went quiet for a while, adding to fan concern. Netflix is holding its Tudum event September 24, and there’s also no mention of the show there. We’re keeping our eyes open.
What else happened?
No real surprises at the top of the table, though Virgin River fell more places than we’d expected. Echoes appeared, maybe lower than we’d expected, while Only Murders in the Building keeps adding viewers. Overall the Top 10 holds few if any real surprises, though we did half expect She-Hulk to make an appearance.
What are we looking for next time?
The Netflix data suggests a good week for Echoes, beating The Sandman and several shows we don’t follow. Away from Netflix the big interest is House of the Dragon and perhaps Star Trek: Lower Decks. We won’t be surprised to see Only Murders one more time.
We’ll let you know!