Connections

The third season of “The Mandalorian” is on the way 1st March from Disney+, and its firmly entrenched as the second-most anticipated returning TV show of the month, behind only “Shadow and Bone” on Netflix, according to new data from Whip Media.

But if you’re looking at 2023 overall for upcoming, announced TV series, there’s hardly any competition at all: Disney+ dominates.

Of the top 10 series announced for the year without release dates, Disney+ holds eight out of the top 10 spots, including the top three: “Secret Invasion,” “Ahsoka,” and “Ironheart.” “The Walking Dead: Dead City” from AMC (No. 4) and “The Idol” from HBO (No. 9) are the only two non-Disney properties on the list.

“’The Mandalorian’ drives significant viewership for Disney+, even when compared to other ‘Star Wars’ shows; S2 of “The Mandalorian” drove 26 percent more views than the ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ and 6 percent more than ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,’ when looking at the eight-week window following each show’s release,” Whip Media said in a statement.

“Season 2 of ‘The Mandalorian’ was a streaming force. S2 was the most-viewed TV series during its two-month debut window — edging past ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ on Netflix.”

For Disney+, the anticipation data is a welcome sign, after the service lost more than two million subscribers in the fourth quarter. “Echo,” “Agatha: Coven of Chaos,” “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” “Star Wars: Lando” and “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” where the other Disney+ shows in the top 10 for the year.

However, for new shows just for March, no new Disney+ show broke the top five, with “True Lies” from CBS, “Gotham Knights” from the CW, “Daisy Jones & The Six” from Amazon Prime Video, “Rabbit Hole” from Paramount+, and “Lucky Hank” from AMC on the list.