The 8 Most Popular On Demand TV Shows in America Are …
Are you catching up on Empire‘s juicy first season or binging on Game of Thrones before it returns? The shows that you watch on demand may depend on where you live in the United States.
According to an entire year of data from Comcast’s Xfinity on Demand service (March 1, 2014 to Feb. 28, 2015), Fox’s Empire was its most-viewed show nation-wide, followed by HBO’s Thrones in second place. But Comcast also crunched numbers for the most-viewed shows in cities across the country, and the results varied—sometimes greatly—by region.
West Coast cities Seattle, Portland and San Francisco were big fans of Thrones, while cities in the Midwest and South, like Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta and Miami, all preferred Empire. Minneapolis broke that trend completely, as viewers there naturally put FX’s Fargo on top.
And is Pittsburgh the freakiest city in the nation? Steel City’s VOD ranker leads with FX’s American Horror Story: Freak Show, but also includes AMC’s The Walking Dead and ABC’s Resurrection, both shows about the undead, in its Top 8.
Boston was the only market with Showtime’s The Affair on its list. Perhaps there’s a family connection: Series star Maura Tierney’s father was late Boston city councilor Joseph Tierney.
Fox’s science-themed docuseries Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey managed to make the Top 8 in several cities – but only on the West Coast. And strangely enough, even though The Walking Dead is shot and set near Atlanta, it’s absent from that city’s list of top-viewed shows.
It’s no surprise to see that the most-viewed shows on demand nationally were all serialized dramas—the kind of shows that lend themselves to binge viewing.
Comcast revealed the list in conjunction with the latest edition of its “Xfinity Watchathon Week,” which returns April 6 with 215 premium, cable and broadcast shows offered for free on Xfinity On Demand.
Here are the Top 8 nationally ranked shows viewed on demand via Xfinity – along with the city-by-city breakdown:
1. Empire (Fox): No surprise here, Empire is the biggest phenomenon to hit primetime in years.
2. Game of Thrones (HBO): Fewer homes subscribe to the premium channel, so its most popular series ranking as the No. 2 most-viewed show on demand is impressive. Clearly, audiences that pay for HBO want to watch.
3. American Horror Story: Freak Show (FX): The network’s shows receive some of the highest DVR and VOD lift of any cable TV series, so it makes sense that AHS would make the list.
4. True Detective (HBO): The anthology series, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, benefited greatly from word of mouth and social media, likely driving a lot of VOD catchup.
5. Power (Starz): Probably the most unexpected show on the ranker, Power benefits from strong showings in southern cities like Atlanta, where it ranked No. 2 (behind only Empire).
6. How to Get Away With Murder (ABC): Shonda Rhimes’ newest show benefited from viewers wanting to catch up early in its run.
7. Gotham (Fox): Another freshman hit, Gotham benefited from a hefty early marketing campaign in addition to fans interested in the Batman origins series.
8. The Walking Dead (AMC): Although The Walking Dead is by far the No. 1 show on television among adults 18-49, so many viewers watch the show live that it only clocks in at No. 8 on the VOD ranker.
And here are the major Xfinity markets, listed by market size:
Chicago
1. Empire (Fox)
2. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
3. Game of Thrones (HBO)
4. Power (Starz)
5. Gotham (Fox)
6. True Detective (HBO)
7. Family Guy (Fox)
8. HTGAWM (ABC)
Philadelphia
1. Empire (Fox)
2. Power (Starz)
3. Game of Thrones (HBO)
4. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
5. True Detective (HBO)
6. HTGAWM (ABC)
7. Gotham (Fox)
8. Resurrection (ABC)
San Francisco
1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
2. Empire (Fox)
3. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
4. True Detective (HBO)
5. Outlander (Starz)
6. Cosmos: Spacetime Odyssey (Fox)
7. Gotham (Fox)
8. The Walking Dead (AMC)
Boston
1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
2. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
3. True Detective (HBO)
4. The Affair (Showtime)
5. Outlander (Starz)
6. Family Guy (Fox)
7. Empire (Fox)
8. Fargo (FX)
Washington, D.C.
1. Empire (Fox)
2. Power (Starz)
3. Game of Thrones (HBO)
4. HTGAWM (ABC)
5. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
6. True Detective (HBO)
7. Gotham (Fox)
8. Black-ish (ABC)
Atlanta
1. Empire (Fox)
2. Power (Starz)
3. HTGAWM (ABC)
4. Game of Thrones (HBO)
5. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
6. Black-ish (ABC)
7. Chrisley Knows Best (USA)
8. Bring It! (Lifetime)
Houston
1. Empire (Fox)
2. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
3. Game of Thrones (HBO)
4. Power (Starz)
5. HTGAWM (ABC)
6. The Walking Dead (AMC)
7. Gotham (Fox)
8. Bring It! (Lifetime)
Detroit
1. Empire (Fox)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
4. Power (Starz)
5. Gotham (Fox)
6. The Walking Dead (AMC)
7. HTGAWM (ABC)
8. Family Guy (Fox)
Seattle
1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
2. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
3. Outlander (Starz)
4. True Detective (HBO)
5. Cosmos: Spacetime Odyssey (Fox)
6. Empire (Fox)
7. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
8. Gotham (Fox)
Minneapolis
1. Fargo (FX)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. Empire (Fox)
4. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
5. True Detective (HBO)
6. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
7. Gotham (Fox)
8. The Walking Dead (AMC)
Miami
1. Empire (Fox)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
4. Power (Starz)
5. HTGAWM (ABC)
6. Gotham (Fox)
7. Family Guy (Fox)
8. Resurrection (ABC)
Denver
1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
2. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
3. True Detective (HBO)
4. Outlander (Starz)
5. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
6. Cosmos: Spacetime Odyssey (Fox)
7. Fargo (FX)
8. Family Guy (Fox)
Pittsburgh
1. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
4. Empire (Fox)
5. True Detective (HBO)
6. The Walking Dead (AMC)
7. HTGAWM (ABC)
8. Resurrection (ABC)
Portland
1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
2. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
3. True Detective (HBO)
4. Outlander (Starz)
5. The Walking Dead (AMC)
6. Cosmos: Spacetime Odyssey (Fox)
7. Fargo (FX)
8. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Hartford
1. Empire (Fox)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
4. Power (Starz)
5. HTGAWM (ABC)
6. The Walking Dead (AMC)
7. True Detective (HBO)
8. Gotham (Fox)
Salt Lake City
1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
2. AHS: Freak Show (FX)
3. The Walking Dead (AMC)
4. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
5. America’s Got Talent (NBC)
6. Outlander (Starz)
7. Cosmos: Spacetime Odyssey (Fox)
8. Family Guy (Fox)
