Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Netflix series was a bigger hit than Succession and Ted Lasso
I’ll be back… to dominate the streaming charts again
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Fubar, the first TV show to star Arnold Schwarzenegger, was bigger thanSuccessionandTed Lassocombined in late May.
Per data analytics company Nielsen (as covered byThe Hollywood Reporter), the action comedy series amassed a whopping 1.53 billion minutes streamed in its first week onNetflix. Admittedly, that only equates to 25.6 million hours, but they’re still impressive numbers for Arnie’s small-screen debut.
What’s even more remarkable is howFubardidn’t just hold its own against two titans of the TV industry, but outperformed them in the week running May 22 to 28 (i.e. the weekFubardebuted on Netflix).
According to Nielsen,Successionseason 4, which aired onMaxin the US, only accrued 541 million minutes across the same seven-day period. Meanwhile, the third season ofTed Lasso, the multi-award winning soccer comedy series that’s become anApple TV Plusstalwart, performed slightly better at 769 million minutes watched.
Even that figure, though, pales in comparison to the numbersFubarposted. In fact, addingSuccessionandTed Lasso’s figures together – 1.31 billion minutes watched – doesn’t matchFubar’s 1.53 billion. In short: two of the world’s most popular shows of 2023 couldn’t hold a candle to the star power that the man affectionately dubbed ‘Arnie’ wields.
There are caveats to Nielsen’s data set, however. The company’s streaming ratings only measure minutes and hours streamed by US viewers, not those in other nations. So, whileFubardominated the streaming landscape in late May on American shores, it doesn’t necessarily mean it outperformedSuccessionandTed Lassoworldwide. Nielsen’s statistics don’t cover minutes or hours watched on computers or mobile devices, either, meaning the data it collects isn’t as extensive as you might expect.
That said, if we take Netflix’s in-house global viewership data into account (per itsTop 10 TV show list, which is updated weekly),Fubaramassed 88.9 million hours streamed in its first week on the world’sbest streaming service. That’s 63.3 million hours more than Nielsen registered. UnlessSuccessionandTed Lassowere watched by millions of viewers worldwide between May 22 and 28, then, it’s unlikely they’ll have exceededFubar’s total hours streamed.
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Terminating the competition
Despite his best days – from an acting perspective – arguably being behind him, then, Schwarzenegger is still a massive draw for audiences looking for a new action-oriented story to lose themselves in. After all, Arnie was one of the biggest action stars of the 1980s, with legendary movies includingThe Terminator,Predator,Commando, andTotal Recallunder his belt.
Based on its teaser trailers, the series didn’t look all that appealing. And, if you’re a stickler for the opinions of critics and likeminded fans, Fubar’s 50% and 68% critics and audience ratings onRotten Tomatoessuggest it’s not one of thebest Netflix showsaround.
But the power of Arnie should never be underestimated. He’s still a big selling point for studios in the entertainment industry, even if Fubar is his first major role since 2019’sTerminator: Dark Fate. Really, we should have expectedFubarto perform above expectations.
Given how wellFubarhas done –it hasn’t fallen out of the top five TV shows on Netflix since it launched– it was unsurprising to see the series renewed for a second season on June 17. It’s unclear if viewers will return forFubar’s sophomore year, or if they’ll have moved on to the next big thing by the time season 2 is released. For now, though, ‘Arnie’ can bask in the limelight once more – and who would deny him the opportunity to do so?
For moreFubar-based coverage, watch thesesix action comedies after you’ve finished Schwarzenegger’s latest project. Alternatively, check out thesethree action movies that are must-see for any Arnie fan.
As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.
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