‘GLOW’ Season 2 Ratings Aren’t Huge, but They’re Still Making Streaming History in Their Own Way
Zack Sharf
“GLOW” is hardly Netflix‘s biggest original series, but it is proving to have one of the streaming giant’s most loyal fan-bases. Nielsen has released its estimates for the show’s streaming numbers across its first three days of release and season two drew 1.33 million U.S. viewers for the premiere episode.
The number is well below “Stranger Things” (15.8 million) and “13 Reasons Why” (6 million), but Nielsen reports “GLOW” had the highest concentration of viewers in the 18-49 demographic of any original streaming content it has analyzed to date. From June 29 to July 1, the “GLOW” Season 2 premiere received an average minute audience of 700,000 U.S. viewers, a whopping 86% of whom were in the 18-49 demo.
Netflix does not deal with advertisers, but a broadcast television series would kill to have such a high percentage of viewers in the lucrative 18-49 demo. Nielsen also reports “GLOW” Season 2 had one of Netflix’s highest median incomes ($80,200), trailing only “The Crown” ($84,200) and “House of Cards” ($80,400).
Even better for “GLOW” is the fact that its numbers should only rise with tomorrow’s Emmy nominations announcement. The series is expected to compete in a couple of comedy categories this year, which will only give it more exposure. Nielsen notes that “GLOW’s” season two debut also benefitted the show’s season one numbers, which hit a 2018 high as new episodes drove first-time viewers to binge the series from the beginning.
Nielsen ratings for Netflix shows only cover U.S. viewers on internet-connected televisions. Users streaming shows via mobile devises or computers are not counted among the data, so technically “GLOW’s” ratings could be even higher. Here’s a look at the average minute audience from the first three days of availability, per Nielsen:
The first two seasons of “GLOW” are now streaming in Netflix.
