Where Are My Lantern Fans At?
Because if you're looking for evidence that Lanterns is failing, you might want to read the numbers with a little more hope.
There is a strange thing happening with Lanterns.
The show keeps putting up numbers that sound pretty damn good, but somehow the conversation keeps turning into an explanation for why those numbers aren't good enough. Well, ring slingers, I'm about to turn those red constructs blue. because those same numbers we keep reading about are actually quite hopeful. All you need to do is look at them through a different spectrum. Lanterns is doing something pretty special.
Let's start with HBO Max,
For Lanterns, HBO/WBD is reporting people who watched, based on HBO's own internal audience measurement across HBO and HBO Max. HBO's Lanterns numbers are worldwide essentially answering:
“How many people did we determine watched this program during this period?”
That's a viewer/audience count.
HBO says the premiere pulled 9.3 million viewers worldwide in three days. It took only three days for Lanterns to become one of HBO Max's top five series premieres ever. Oh, and the biggest launch for a DC Studios series on the platform! Fast forward to episode 3. Now there is 10 million viewers! The audience went up. I'm guessing that's what television folk call "A good thing!"
But what about those embarrassing Nielsen numbers that had Lanterns grounded by Bluey, and Sponge Bob? Nielsen itself is very explicit about this: its Top 10 is based on U.S. viewing through television, (No computers, phones or tablets). It’s Streaming Content Ratings are based on a panel measuring streaming activity on the TV screen (only). Nielsen itself is very explicit about this. essentially asking:
“How many total minutes did Americans spend watching this program on television screens?”
It's a consumption measurement.
Nielsen's streaming chart for Aug. 31 through Sept. 6th put Lanterns at #8 in all of streaming with 500 million minutes watched. Five Hundred Million Minutes and how many episodes did Lanterns have available? Four. Bluey: 760 million minutes, 154 episodes. SpongeBob: 678 million minutes, 336 episodes. NCIS: 478 million minutes. - - - Wait a minute, Lanterns had 500 million. NCIS had 508 episodes contributing to its total. So, let's get this straight. A brand-new show with four episodes just put up more total Nielsen minutes than NCIS with 508 episodes, and somehow, we're supposed to look at that as a presumed failure? "But SpongeBob beat it!" uh yup...SpongeBob has 336 episodes. That's a lot of seafood. Lanterns generated 500 million minutes from four episodes. That is an enormous amount of viewing packed into a tiny catalog. #8 among everything being streamed that week. Top 10 Baby! But there's more! Nielsen is now giving its clients daily streaming data. Guess what happened on September 14? Lanterns generated 138 million viewing minutes in one day. That made it the #1 original streaming series that day. #1.
Remember, Comparing HBO's viewer count to Nielsen's viewing minutes is like looking at two completely different Lanterns. HBO is counting the people carrying the rings. Nielsen is counting how long those rings stayed lit. You can't use one measurement to disprove the other. It's apples and oranges. HBO is counting viewers. Nielsen is counting minutes. One tells you how many people watched. The other tells you how much they watched. Do not fear, Nielsen doesn’t provide the missing reality check on HBO's audience claim.
So Where Are My Lantern Fans? Because I'm starting to think Sinestro is writing these articles and we're supposed to apologize for great numbers. I'm not apologizing. I will not give into this fearmongering. You can argue whether the numbers are good enough, you can argue comparative streaming service methodologies, heck, you can argue about whether the show deserves another season. Just don't pretend there is no audience because there is a pretty big one. Let's stop being afraid of the numbers. Maybe instead of looking at Lanterns through a red, yellow, or orange lens, we should look at it through a different spectrum. "In Brightest Day..."