The Rings of Power does not have the ratings to rule them all.
Amazon has been looking for a breakout hit or a brand-defining TV show since they broke out on the scene back in 2010. While they have relative hits in Jack Ryan and Reacher, they’ve been grasping for a show that makes them stand out amongst the thousands of shows and the multiple streaming services.
That’s why when The Lord of the Rings intellectual property became available, they jumped at the chance to acquire it, hoping to have something akin to Game of Thrones on HBO.
But you can’t just buy a culture-defining television show, and it seems like Amazon learned that the hard way.
The Rings of Power had a 37 percent completion rate in the United States, meaning only 37 percent of people who started the show finished it. Outside of the U.S., the series had a 45 percent global completion rate. According to some insiders, 50 percent is a fine number, but nothing to brag about.
For a show they thought would put them on the map and paid hundreds of millions for, these are not great numbers.
According to audience measurement, data, and analytics platform Nielsen, The Rings of Power was the 15th most streamed show, so it did not even crack the top ten.
It’s hard to put a finger on the show’s issues. Many called out the slow pace. That’s something Amazon is aiming to fix in the upcoming seasons, but I think they’re also battling six contained movies that focused on characters we knew going on a simple adventure with complicated stakes.
Can Amazon turn the fate of the series around?
Let me know what you think in the comments.
