Image via Apple TV
Key Takeaways
- Viewership Comparison: Apple TV shows struggle to match the viewership of major competitors.
- Nielsen Rankings: An Apple TV title recently made it to the Nielsen top 10 for the first time since 2023.
- Show Success: The horror-comedy series Widow’s Bay has been renewed for a second season after strong viewership.
- Critical Acclaim: The series holds a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating positive reception.
As popular as some of Apple TV’s shows may seem, they’re rarely able to compete with the kind of viewership the biggest hits on other platforms generally garner. For instance, it’s extremely rare for an Apple TV series to find a spot on the weekly Nielsen rankings, an industry gold standard despite an overall lack of transparency. Netflix is the only platform that regularly shares viewership data, and confirming what the streamer has reported for the past month, the Harlan Coben mystery series I Will Find You topped the charts in its debut week with a record-breaking 1.8 billion minutes watched. There was, however, a rare Apple TV title on the list as well.
The new Nielsen report tracks viewership data for the week of June 15 to June 21. With I Will Find You taking the top spot, a handful of other Netflix titles brought up the rear. At the number eight spot on the latest Nielsen report, however, was the biggest Apple TV title of the year. It’s also the first Apple TV show to secure a spot on the Nielsen top 10 after the second season of Your Friends and Neighbors, starring Jon Hamm. The new show, a horror comedy, was headlined by Matthew Rhys, who stars as the mayor of a New England island town whose residents are convinced is a hotbed of supernatural activity.
The Apple TV Series Holds a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score
By now you’ve guessed that we’re talking about Widow's Bay. The 10-episode series debuted on April 29 and concluded its run on June 17. The show was created byKatie Dippold, withHiro Murai performing directing duties on several episodes.
Widow’s Bay now holds a “Certified Fresh” 98% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Katie Dippold successfully continues to invest in eccentricity with this outlandish horror-comedy that stokes the genre’s well-worn tropes to winning effect, bringing scares, laughs, and a game cast.” According to Nielsen, theshow accumulated 415 million minutes watched during the week in question, which coincided with the premiere of the show’s finale. Owing to this success,Widow’s Bay has been renewed for a second season. Stay tuned to Collider.
