Total demand for all TV series in the country dropped 17.8% from May 15 to June 4, with the declines beginning immediately after George Floyd’s death, and accelerating between May 31 and June 4, according to Parrot Analytics.
Total demand for all television series in the United States dropped 17.8% from May 15 to June 4, with the declines beginning immediately after George Floyd’s death, and accelerating between May 31 and June 4, according to global demand data from Parrot Analytics.
As protests spread beyond the United States, demand for television series in the rest of the world was down 7.8% over the same time period.
“In the days following George Floyd’s killing, as protests against systemic racism and police brutality spread across the US, audiences’ attention was drawn away from their usual content consumption,” said Karina Dixon, Global Insights Director at Parrot Analytics. “Normally, market level and global demand is relatively stable. A 17.8% drop in total US demand over a three-week period shows just how much this tragedy has captured the American public’s attention,” she added.
Parrot Analytics measured a similarly precipitous drop in total US demand in the days following the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the United States, as coverage of the pandemic dominated the news and transfixed audiences.
“While the protests began in the United States, they quickly spread around the globe,” said Alejandro Rojas, Director of Applied Analytics at Parrot Analytics. “The international impact of these events can be seen in the total demand for TV shows in all countries outside the US, where we measured a 7.8% dip. This drop in both the US and around the world is likely due to a combination of the protest movement drawing audiences’ attention away from normal TV content, combined with many states and nations re-opening after several months of coronavirus lockdowns,” he continued.
Parrot Analytics also found an inverse relationship between the total demand for TV content and search interest in “Black Lives Matter,” as seen below.
While overall demand for content is down, certain socially relevant shows are seeing a surge in audience demand during the protests. As Parrot previously reported, the US demand for Netflix’s “Dear White People” grew 329%, while “When They See Us” was up 147% during the week of May 27-June 2, just as the nationwide protests were starting.
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