The Pitt is scorching hot and getting hotter. ALSO: TV's mad genius Byron Allen has Starz in his eyes
The Pitt is exiting the hip culture bubble and is becoming a bona fide mainstream success. For the first season of the show, it was one of the very few truly hip shows that had all the culture vultures watching and discussing it.
But if you ever looked at the actual numbers, you’d find routinely shows with zero buzz and an absence of conversation around them were generating greater viewership.
New data from Nielsen has shown that viewership for the show has grown over fifty per cent from the first season, with around 15.4 million viewers (in the US) per episode. And just for a bit of zeitgeist comparison, HBO’s Game of Thrones highest ratings topped out at around 13.6 million viewers in the US. There’s some apple to oranges comparison between the two shows, but please accept that figure as a very rubbery yard stick.
From THR, who today reported on the Nielsen numbers:
These figures reflect 90 days of viewing of the show, so keep in mind that people are still discovering the show. While season two was running new episodes, there was still an audience watching through season one. According to THR:
From Jan. 5-April 12, all episodes of The Pitt accumulated 15.47 billion minutes of viewing. Season two accounts for 65 percent of that total, with the percentage climbing fairly steadily throughout the season. The second season premiere made up only about 35 percent of the weekly total for Jan. 5-11 — no surprise since it was available for only part of that week (it debuted Jan. 8) and was less than 10 percent of the series’ total running time at that point.
By week four of this season, however, season two made up the majority of watch time for The Pitt. Starting in week 11, the current season accounted for more than 75 percent of all viewing for the series, according to Nielsen. The percentage dipped some for the final week of the season, possibly because viewers were doing some catch-up viewing on the first sesaon.
The Pitt isn’t the most-watched show on streaming TV or television, but it is up there. I found the figures on this interesting to consider what makes a hit on television nowadays and how the reality of those numbers reflects the broader cultural enthusiasm around the show.
The question now is whether that is a ceiling for viewership of The Pitt or if there is still an ability for the show to get bigger. I have no doubt that if the show was on Netflix, for example, viewership for the show would be exceptionally higher. Viewership on HBO Max continues to be limited by the size of its subscriber base. Consider the most recent Nielsen Gauge report (as flawed as it may be considered to be at the moment, with no report issued since Feb 2026… look at that big ol’ disclaimer Nielsen are running with current reporting in the middle of the wheel…) and where viewership for Warner Bros Discovery is versus all of its competitors.
What I would be interested in seeing is a figure on how many HBO Max subscribers are: a) sampling The Pitt; and b) what the completion rate is for the show on platform. We know how big a deal The Pitt is in broader viewership terms, but I’d be curious to have a greater understanding of how big a deal The Pitt is within the HBO Max ecosystem.
Colbert’s replacement has his eyes on the Starz
2026 has been a big year already for Byron Allen. The one-time stand-up comedian turned TV presenter turned media mogul has this year already seen his self-produced comedy chat show Comics Unleashed scheduled to replace The Late Show with Stephen Colbert when that winds down this month (it’s part of a deal with the Allen Media Group renting the timeslot from CBS for a year).
This week the Allen Media Group announced the purchase of BuzzFeed (which also comes with HuffPost) for a bargain price, though considering the trajectory of BuzzFeed in recent years, many (myself included) would suggest that at $20m, Byron has possibly overpaid. He adds BuzzFeed to his portfolio of assets that includes The Weather Channel, The Grio, and a bunch of digital assets framed around .TV domains (pets.TV, cars.TV, etc). he also owns a whole bunch of ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliate stations across the US.
Allen has been buying up these assets on the fringe of the TV/online video industry and the question has long been about him as to whether he is buying assets that are being squeezed out of the market, or if he is building a canny portfolio of companies that can adapt nicely to the new media world. Many sense it is a doomed enterprise that will crash around him, but also I doubt many could say with 100% certainty that Allen is set to fail.
In a conference call to media to announce the BuzzFeed acquisition, Allen was clear that his vision for BuzzFeed was to lean heavily into video. That positions BuzzFeed alongside his other video-focused assets.
“As of this moment, BuzzFeed is officially chasing YouTube and the other big tech platforms,” Mr. Allen said.
I’d suggest that the idea of chasing YouTube is pretty ridiculous as a proposition. What I’d suggest is a more attainable proposition is instead chasing linear social streaming sites like Twitch with programming that can grow out of his portfolio weather, youth, and other content vertical properties.
Something to consider is the HuffPo Live video streaming service that Huffington Post, now part of Allen’s portfolio, launched – perhaps several years too early. I’d never suggest following that model completely, but if he’s chasing social video with a difference to YouTube in a way that complements his portfolio, there’s a lot there in that HuffPo Live experiment that lends itself to what Allen may want to do here.
Here’s Allen in an interview today with THR talking about the deal and suggests where his interest is:
BuzzFeed is one of the most recognizable brands, as well as HuffPost, and for us — I own something called Local Now. It’s a free streaming app it curates, aggregates and streams super hyperlocal news, weather, sports and traffic, geofenced to the user’s zip code.
One night I had dinner with Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, and I said “Hey, what keeps you up at night?” He said “YouTube.” I said, “YouTube?” He said, “Yeah, Byron, if YouTube starts delivering premium content, how do I get people to pay me XYZ per month?” I said, “Got it.” So, YouTube is the biggest streamer by far. The world’s two favorite words right now: “Free” and “streaming.”
What I can do is I can take BuzzFeed and HuffPost and put it into the free streaming business with this asset that I’ve invested heavily in. And it’s not to replace anything at BuzzFeed or HuffPost, it’s additive, it’s to build on the 20-year foundation that they’ve created.
He now has his focus on a controlling stake in entertainment video company Starz:
I want to control Starz — I am the second largest stockholder. I have a good relationship with Steve Mnuchin. He used to be my banker when he controlled OneWest Bank and I saw that he owned 11 percent, called him up and asked him if he wanted to hold on to it cause I had interest. He said, “I’m not interested in selling at these prices.” I said, “I didn’t give you a price, just tell me what you want.” And he said, “I want $25 million.” I said, “OK, I’ll take those shares for $25 million and we bought them.”
I want two streaming platforms. One that’s SVOD, and one that’s AVOD. I’m the largest in what I believe is an AVOD platform, free streaming. That would be BuzzFeed and HuffPost. And I want an SVOD, so that’s Starz. I’m going to do whatever I need to do to control Starz.
I am obsessed with Byron Allen and what he is building with his company. He’s 90% completely batshit crazy fool. But he’s also 90% genius. I know that math doesn’t add up, but that’s how it goes in Allen’s world as he rides his way to the top. Or the bottom.
News Desk
Apple TV has renewed Margos Got Money Troubles for season 2. I loved the first series, but I’m not entirely convinced we need to spend more time with these characters… Read: thefutoncritic
Jodie Comer will headline the new HBO thriller The Chain. The show is based on a novel by Adrian McKinty and will be showrun by Damon Lindeloff. Read: Variety
With 6.5 million viewers, new Steve Carell comedy Rooster is the most-watched debut season for a comedy series on HBO since beloved 2009 show Hung. The only thing longer than the protagonist in that show is the length of time that has passed since the show was last mentioned by anyone. It ran for a girthy three seasons. Read: Variety
Nina Gold, known as the casting director for shows like Game of Thrones, The Crown, and the last five Star Wars movies is officially at work on casting the new James Bond film. Read: Variety
Paw Patrol and spin-off Rubble & Crew have been renewed for two more seasons at Nickelodeon. Breathe easy. Read: Deadline
In the media promotions for the new Prime Video Spider-Man live action show Spider Noir, actor Lamorne Morris described star Nicholas Cage this way: “His whole thing is he is a spider trying to learn how to be a human.” That may be the dumbest/greatest statement ever made by an actor on a press junket. Read: THR
RIP French-American singer Claudine Longet. She died at the age of 84. She’s known mostly as a singer, one-time wife of Andy Williams, guest actress in a bunch of 60s TV shows, and one-time 30 day jailbird after shooting boyfriend Spider Sabich at the Claudine Longet Invitational Ski Championship. Read: Deadline
On the Screen Watching podcast a few weeks back I was talking about the heat around The Pitt and how it has become a bit like shows like The Wire where for the next few years we will see a slew of guest stars and regulars from the show suddenly get cast off the back of being in a Hollywood-hip show. This week’s example of it is Jalen Thomas Brooks who very quickly became a fan favourite as Mateo on the show and now has a much bigger role on Prime Video’s buzzy new YA drama Off Campus. He’s doing the press rounds right now with a lot of The Pitt chatter in the mix. Read: Deadline
Trailer Park
The very charming My Adventures with Superman returns to Adult Swim for season 3 June 13 (and the next day on HBO Max).
The Season debuts on Hulu June 17.
The most powerful families in Hong Kong are about to face each other... and themselves.
Your Fault: London debuts June 17 on Prime Video.
After the explosive events of My Fault: London, Nick and Noah return - stronger, closer, and more in love than ever. But as life begins to pull them in different directions, their relationship faces its toughest challenge yet.
Bad Thoughts returns for season 2 at Netflix May 24.
Tyler Perry’s The Oval returns for season 7 at BET and Paramount+ on May 20.
Mating Season debuts on Netflix May 22.
From the creators of Big Mouth comes Mating Season, an adult animated romantic comedy - set in the animal world - about love, sex, relationships, and the universal need to find a partner and perpetuate the species - starring bears, raccoons, deer, foxes and a host of other horny, lovable forest critters.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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