The viewing numbers are in for the second season of Andor, and you know what? It turns out that quite a lot of people enjoyed watching it. According to the Nielsen charts (via The Hollywood Reporter), the prelude to Andor’s final mission and the birth of the rebellion didn’t just perform well; it earned the number one spot as the most-watched show, beating out competitors on other streaming services.
It should hardly come as a surprise, given the immense praise it received from critics upon release. During the week of May 12, the gripping Star Wars drama series racked up an incredible 931 million minutes of viewing. Those numbers continued to grow by 101 minutes week to week, leading into the show’s finale. The closest contender to try to knock Cassian from the top spot on the Disney Plus ranking was Bluey with 922 minutes viewed. Well, sure, we’re all for shaping young minds, but has Bluey ever rescued a senator after publicly defying the Galactic Empire? Yeah, we didn’t think so.
As predicted (and would be compulsory viewing for any Star Wars fan after finishing Andor), Rogue One also made a spot on the movie charts of Disney Plus for those wanting a gut-wrenching chapter with their heartbreaking shot of rebellion. When the final three episodes of the prequel series were released, the Dirty Dozen-like war movie ended up in joint ninth place on the movie charts and had 179 minutes viewed. Way to go, Cassian.
Regarding competition from other big shows, Andor steamed ahead against Grey’s Anatomy and Criminal Minds, and even left The Last of Us in the dust. The latter’s struggle doesn’t come as a surprise, considering that the HBO series battled with ratings this season after killing off Joel (Pedro Pascal), which was a disappointing shock for those who still didn’t know what would happen. Its finale was also hit with a 55% fall in viewers compared to season 1, proving just what kind of damage a golf club can do if placed in the wrong hands.
The question now is how the numbers will compare when Disney returns with their next Star Wars television chapter, given the booming success of Andor. We still have a while to wait, but the next big show set to hit streaming from a galaxy far, far away will be Ahsoka, which still doesn’t have a release date yet. For now, check out every Star Wars movie and television show coming our way in the future and hope that one of them comes close to Andor's adventures. Hey, we can dream, right?
