Disney Plus has been releasing no shortage of Star Wars content for the last several years, with new shows popping up all the time. But that more-is-more approach has apparently hurt the viewership of several recent Star Wars streaming series.
According to The Wrap, recent Star Wars shows Ahsoka and The Acolyte experienced sharp drop-offs through their runs, each dropping around 30% in viewership. Conversely, one Star Wars show, Andor, went up in viewership across its run, likely due to strong critical reception and word-of-mouth between beleaguered fans looking for some quality Star Wars content.
While The Acolyte and Ahsoka dropped off (and the other recent show Skeleton Crew never even cracked the top 10), Andor season one had around 674 streaming minutes, increasing to around 931 million minutes in season two.
The Wrap reports that the cause for these major drop-offs seems to be a declining level of quality and, frankly, too many Star Wars releases, with each one taking away viewer anticipation for what might come next.
I'll be honest, I've personally been incredibly turned off by the glut of Star Wars shows popping up all the time. It's taken me from being a dyed-in-the-wool Star Wars diehard to a distant, at best casual fan. A lot of that has to do with the quality of the series and recent movies, which have stiffly dropped off in my opinion.
The Acolyte in particular was something of a last straw for me, as I was actually quite interested in the premise. But - spoilers ahead - halfway through the series, most of the main cast is killed off and the big villain is revealed as the most obvious character possible - both plot points that had me groaning and never going back to finish it.
Here's hoping that, as Marvel Studios has promised to do, Lucasfilm will slow down on its Star Wars releases in order to focus more on quality over quantity, and to bring back some of the massive anticipation that has often accompanied new Star Wars shows and movies in the past.
While we wait for the next Star Wars release, check out our rundown of all the Star Wars movies and TV shows currently in the works.
