ABC’s ‘Doctor’ makes house calls on demand
ABC’s The Good Doctor and NBC’s This Is Us, two of TV’s most popular shows, also are the top picks for catchup viewing on demand, according to an exclusive tally from Comcast.
But the list gets weirder from there: Less-popular series such as FX’s Amer
ican Horror Story and Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, along with NBC’s Will & Grace, round out the list of top 5 VOD titles ranked by current-season episodes, Comcast says, citing data from Rentrak, a research firm.
Other top picks are a mixed bag, from Ken Burns’ PBS docuseries The Vietnam
War to Outlander and The Orville.
Steve Meyer, VP strategy, research and analytics at Comcast, which counts more than 20 million subscribers, says VOD has become a more popular way to catch up on new shows, as most networks offer all previously aired episodes from the current season, hoping that fans will become loyal viewers.
The need for catch-up, whether cable on demand or through streaming apps, has grown as the late September “premiere week” has become less of a mustsee event with more competition. Nielsen estimates that 8% of TV viewing in homes without DVRs was on-demand in October, up from 2% in October 2013.
“You’ve got a lot of people discovering content after it’s out there, by word of mouth,” Meyer says.
Many of the same new shows that viewers are talking about, according to studies by Engagement Labs, show up on the list of top VOD titles, including
The Good Doctor and Will & Grace.
Among returning favorites, This Is Us remains a top pick.
“We’re definitely seeing a theme of more feel-good melodrama,” Meyer says. “It’s a different tone than some of the apocalyptic, darker shows that even going back two years ago were completely dominating the list.”