by Ray Keating
News/Analysis
DisneyBizJournal.com
August 30, 2023
Yesterday (August 29, 2023), The Walt Disney Company decided to announce its estimate for viewership of the first episode of the Star Wars show Ahsoka on Disney+. This was a very unusual step for Disney, which rarely – and I mean rarely – shares audience numbers for shows or movies on Disney+.
At StarWars.com, Disney announced “that Part One of Ahsoka, 'Master and Apprentice,' was the most-watched title on Disney+ this past week. The debut episode garnered 14 million views, making the series number one globally on the streaming platform.”
Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm president, was quoted, “Ahsoka has become a fan favorite with people of all ages and it’s wonderful to see her continue to resonate with viewers in her very own headlining series. I want to recognize the fantastic work done by our creative team, led by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, the incredible cast led by Rosario Dawson, and our talented crew — and on behalf of the team and all of Lucasfilm, we give our thanks to all the fans who have been with Ahsoka on every step of her journey and to all those who are just learning about her now in Ahsoka on Disney+.”
So, why did Disney take this unusual step? It seems that there are two possible reasons. One is that the online buzz was saying that the Ahsoka debut numbers were unimpressive, and Disney had to move to counter that. Or, Disney wanted to take a small victory with some good numbers. Of course, it could be both.
Deadline reported the following on outside estimates of Ahsoka’s audience: “Samba TV reports that the Live+5 day viewership for the first episode of Disney+/Lucasfilm’s new series Ahsoka drew 1.2M households. Disney+ dropped the first two episodes of the Dave Filoni-created series on Tuesday, August 22. The second episode clocked 956K U.S. households.”
How does that compare to other Star Wars projects on Disney+? Deadline reported:
“Ahsoka‘s first episode ratings are even with the first episode of the Tony Gilroy-created Star Wars series Andor, which also pulled in 1.2M households over its live+5 day. Andor debuted on Disney+ on September 21, 2022. However, the ratings for Ahsoka Episode 1 “Master and Apprentice” are down by 50% from the Live+5 day of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which dropped on May 27, 2022, with that Jedi force pulling in 2.4M households. Ahsoka Episode 1 also is down from the first episode of Season 3 of The Mandalorian by 29%, with that series from Filoni and Jon Favreau earning 1.7M U.S. households in its L+5D.”
Samba TV tweeted the following:
So far, on RottenTomatoes.com, Ahsoka has rated 89% fresh with critics, and 76% fresh with audiences.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right? (Keating is a Disney shareholder.)
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