Hot Sheet: Saturday Night Live soars to top two in TV demand

AMC's The Walking Dead remained at the top spot on the overall TV demand for the week of Jan. 23 to 29.

Viewers apparently had a need for Creed star Michael B. Jordan as he hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live on Jan. 28, with the show vaulting to the top five of the overall TV demand chart.

The sketch comedy series came in at No. 2 on that chart for the week of Jan. 23 to 29, according to Parrot Analytics. The episode that was hosted by Jordan (pictured; Disney’s Black Panther) with performances from rapper Lil Baby saw the show get an uptick in demand average of 28.19 for the week, compared to 20.4 for the period of Jan. 9 to 15.

AMC’s The Walking Dead continued to dominate the overall TV demand chart for the week with a demand average of 30.53, which is a slightly lower figure compared to the previous week’s 31.15, while Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty sat at No. 3 on the chart with 26.7 – a higher number than the Jan. 9 to 15 average of 20.88.

The remaining series on the overall TV demand chart are: HBO’s Game of Thrones at No. 4 with a steady average of 26.54, and Disney+’s The Mandalorian at No. 5 with an average of 25.38 – lower than the previous week’s 30.99. The Star Wars franchise series also maintained its top spot on the digital originals chart for the week.

Netflix’s Stranger Things remained at No. 2 on the digital originals chart with a steady average of 23.15, followed by Hulu original The Handmaid’s Tale with 17.51, which rose from its No. 4 spot despite having a lower average compared to the previous week’s 19.19. Meanwhile, Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso moved up to No. 4 with 17.19 – a slightly higher number than the previous week’s 17.04, and Prime Video’s The Boys returned to the digitals chart with 16.04.

See the chart from Parrot Analytics below for the top 10 digital originals and overall TV series demand in Canada.

Top 10 Digital Originals: Canada

1. The Mandalorian (Disney+): 25.38
2. Stranger Things (Netflix): 23.15
3. The Handmaid’s Tale (Crave): 17.51
4. Ted Lasso (Apple TV+): 17.19
5. The Boys (Prime Video): 16.04
6. 1923 (Netflix): 15.88
7. Andor (Disney+): 15.51
8. Letterkenny (Crave): 15.14
9. Ginny & Georgia (Netflix): 14.84
10. Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+): 14.35

Top 10 Overall TV Shows: Canada

1. The Walking Dead: 30.53
2. Saturday Night Live: 28.19
3. Rick and Morty: 26.7
4. Game of Thrones: 26.54
5. The Mandalorian: 25.38
6. Sesame Street: 25.34
7. The Owl House: 23.2
8. Stranger Things: 23.15
9. One Piece: 22.39
10. The White Lotus: 22.16

Parrot Analytics calculates its Top 10 lists using Demand Expressions, which are shown by using a metric that demonstrates how much more in-demand the top series are than the average TV show (linear, pay TV, SVOD and AVOD) in Canada. For example, a difference of 1x represents the market average and 10x means a series is 10 times more in demand than the average TV show in this market.

Photo: Michael B. Jordan attends Critics Choice Association’s 5th Annual Celebration Of Black Cinema & Television at Fairmont Century Plaza on December 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)