‘Jury Duty’ Is a Rare Original Hit on Ad-Supported Streaming | Charts
The recent breakout success of Amazon Freevee’s mockumentary “Jury Duty” has shown how FAST services are branching out from the standard licensed fare with popular original content.
For a long time, these services flew under the radar, mainly building their catalogs from older seasons of shows that might not be must-watch hits. But having the buzziest content was never part of their business model. The main draw for audiences has been the fact that they are free.
Weeks after “Jury Duty” premiered on April 7, demand began to blow up, as measured by Parrot Analytics‘ data, which takes into account consumer research, streaming, downloads and social media, among other engagement. The show reached its peak at 24 times the average series demand on May 1. There’s little doubt that part of the reason this show needed some time to take off was that audiences weren’t expecting to find new, viral content on a service like Freevee. Had the show premiered somewhere like Netflix, chances are that audiences would have discovered the charms of James Marsden and his “oof” much faster.
While “Jury Duty” might be generating buzz for Freevee at the moment and helping new audiences to discover Amazon’s FAST play, which rebranded from IMDb TV last year, it stands apart from the other most in-demand shows on the service, most of which are licensed series.
The two most in-demand shows available on Freevee in May were “Lost” and “The X-Files,” both shows that have long since ended but remain popular. Reality series like “Pawn Stars,” “Dance Moms” and “Hell’s Kitchen” with long lists of episodes are viewing fare perfectly suited for FAST services, where audiences are likely to have shows playing in the background rather than tuning in intently.
The ad-supported business model is in vogue again with even Netflix introducing an ad-supported tier. Ultimately this means that there is going to be increased competition going forward for the price-sensitive audiences using free or ad-subsidized services. Original content from FAST services like “Jury Duty” or the Roku Channel’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” may help them draw new audiences in with an incentive beyond the price tag.
Christofer Hamilton is a senior insights analyst at Parrot Analytics, a WrapPRO partner. For more from Parrot Analytics, visit the Data and Analysis Hub.
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