Hulu’s Year End Report is in and it proves that TV watchers loved nostalgic content while hunkering down during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the company, “streaming TV has become a source of stability in our ever-changing world.” The Year End Report reveals that Hulu viewers escaped reality by binge watching reality TV shows.
Among all live and on-demand viewers, unscripted content was the top genre in terms of content watched and the percentage of overall consumption. Minutes watching unscripted series increased by a whopping +48% year over year, thanks to titles like Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
The Classic TV subgenre saw massive growth as viewers enjoyed industry-changing titles such as The Twilight Zone, I Love Lucy, and M*A*S*H. In total, the Classic TV subgenre experienced a +77% year over year increase in minutes watched. The most watched episode of 2020 was the premiere of Little Fires Everywhere while the most watched movie on Hulu in 2020 was the Hulu Original Palm Springs.
Parasite nearly claimed the title by being the most watched film on Hulu from March to May but it couldn’t top the Andy Samberg led romantic comedy. Despite COVID-19 shaking up sports leagues from the diamond to the Gridiron, live sports dominated Hulu’s Live content. 5 of the top 10 Live programs in 2020 were dedicated to sports, including NFL Football, College Football, NBA Basketball, SportsCenter, and MLB Baseball.
These accounted for the majority of the Live hours watched. Unsurprisingly, Super Bowl LIV: 49ers vs. Chiefs took home the crown as the top-streamed Live sports event. As for the top 5 most watched, non-sports/non-news Live shows, fans were most interested in Wheel of Fortune, The Big Bang Theory, Family Guy, Jeopardy, and The Simpsons.
On February 9, The Oscars became Live’s largest non-sports/non-news single event. For the year, Hulu Originals proved successful in May with viewers spending more of their time watching Little Fires Everywhere, Normal People, Solar Opposites, and The Great. Letterkenny and The Handmaid’s Tale were popular as well.
From March through May, overall binge watching hours on Hulu climbed 61% YoY while overall binge sessions increased by 44% YoY. Want to know the most streamed day of the year or the top news programs? You can find out by heading over to Hulu’s Year End Report.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
