It has been a whole month since Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 finale aired on October 3rd. Since then, social media has significantly quieted down aside from the usual flare-ups between Tolkien fans and TROP fans over the show’s finale and Season 2 overall. But missing from the discussion are the viewership numbers and watch time for the much-advertised finale. Which prompts the question: why is Amazon’s The Rings of Power Season 2 finale figures still undisclosed or delayed?
Up until the finale, The Rings of Power was hitting the Top 10 Charts when it came to domestic viewing by data analytic firms Samba TV and Nielsen. Unfortunately, for the show, both firms reported that The Rings of Power Season 2 was not performing as well as Season 1 with all indications being that the numbers were significantly lower.
For Samba TV, The Rings of Power barely hit its Top 10 Chart of streaming programs at #9 the week before the finale aired. The week of the Season 2 finale The Rings of Power managed to rank at #6 but, the week after the finale aired, the show completely dropped from Samba TV’s Top 10 List altogether and has remained off of the list since then. Unfortunately, the firm hasn’t provided viewership numbers since it revealed that only 902,000 viewers watched the first episode of The Rings of Power Season 2 during the first five days. A 50% drop compared to Season 1’s 1.8 million during the first four days.
Nielsen, paints a similar picture for domestic viewership as The Rings of Power Season 2 saw its first positive 10% uptick in viewership two weeks before the finale aired with 829 million minutes watched and at #3 on their charts. However, just like Samba TV, the week before the Season 2 finale saw The Rings of Power drop down to #7 with 733 million minutes watched. As for the week of October 3rd, when the Season 2 finale aired things take a mysterious turn. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nielsen experienced an “operational issue” which has delayed its findings for another week or two.
Amazon, meanwhile, continues to stay quiet with regards to The Rings of Power Season 2 finale and the series’ performance. Aside from the 40 million global viewers during the show’s first 11 days and the additional 15 million in the following 23 days, the show’s trajectory didn’t appear to be on track to break Season 1’s 100 million global views statistic. Not unless the Season 2 finale broke records.
Throughout Season 2, Amazon has kept repeating the 55 million figure whenever asked about the show’s performance. However, it was revealed that the show’s five-year run was not a guarantee as Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke admitted,
“We’ll continue to make the show as long as we see global customers loving it and watching it to the point where — it is a business. “
It was only until November 1st, when any information about The Rings of Power Season 2 was provided by the company in its Q3 results. According to the press release and Amazon Prime Video, The Rings of Power Season 2 is “Prime Video’s most watched returning season ever by hours watched.”
And that’s it.
No other information was disclosed regarding viewership numbers or subscriptions generated as a result of the show.
Nothing.
So there is no way of knowing, as of right now, how many people watched The Rings of Power Season 2 finale or the entirety of Season 2. But the fact that the company only mentioned that it is their “most watched returning season” for hours watched is telling a most likely a way to obfuscate the fact that viewership numbers were not optimal. Could Amazon have asked Nielsen to hold back its data for a simultaneous release or for Amazon to make its own announcement first? Or could it be that Nielsen might manipulate its numbers? It is not unheard of for companies to manipulate and frame data for the purposes of spinning a positive light on a product. Or gas Sauron entered the fray to gaslight and gatekeep?
Things are turning out to be very interesting for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon’s most expensive mistake.
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[…] [ November 3, 2024 ] A Month Later Amazon’s The Rings of Power Season 2 Finale Figures Still U… […]
[…] of its show. From obfuscating with reluctantly-given global numbers to being silent about viewership figures for Season 2’s finale, it is difficult to accurately gauge how the show is doing. And like Gollum plummeting to his death […]