He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.
The numbers are in, and it seems like the worst-case scenario for Prime Video's flagship series is playing out. The series in question took an inordinately long time to return for a second season — four years, to be exact — and this appears to have affected viewer retention. Research has shown that audiences tend to drop out of programs that take longer than others between seasons. For instance, this year's second season of The Gentlemen registered a 45% decline in viewership compared to Season 1, which was released only two years ago. The Prime Video show had a four-year hiatus to overcome, and recently released viewership figures aren't promising.
The show found a spot on the latest edition of the Nielsen streaming report, but it fell short of a fairly standard benchmark for a project of its size. For context, the show premiered in the same year as fellow Prime Video tentpole Reacher. But Reacher had already aired four tremendously successful seasons before the show we're talking about returned with its second installment. Both titles have also inspired spin-offs.
We're talking, of course, about The Terminal List — an action-thriller designed to target the same audience that enjoys shows like Reacher and Jack Ryan on Prime Video. The Terminal List marked Chris Pratt's first major streaming project, at a time when he was fresh off three major big-screen franchises — The Lego Movie, Jurassic World, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Pratt has since embraced his streaming audience, having headlined this year's Mercy and the upcoming Way of the Warrior Kid.
Also featuring Taylor Kitsch and Constance Wu, The Terminal List received mixed reviews for its first season, which is now sitting at a 42% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The reception for Season 2 has been more positive, with a 73% score on the aggregator website. The audience consensus for the new season reads, "Chris Pratt dominates as James Reece, bringing conviction to the explosive action and the personal toll his mission takes on him in The Terminal List."
According to the latest edition of the Nielsen streaming report, which tracks the week of October 19 to October 25, The Terminal List secured the fifth spot on the overall top 10 list. It amassed 830 million minutes watched, falling short of evergreen hits such as Grey's Anatomy and The Big Bang Theory. More tellingly, Reacher averaged between 1.1 billion and 1.5 billion minutes watched during its fourth season, while its spin-off Neagley debuted with 1.78 billion minutes watched only a few weeks before The Terminal List. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
A former Navy SEAL officer investigates why his entire platoon was ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.
