‘Yellowjackets’ Has Record-Breaking Streaming Premiere; What it Could Mean for Future SHOWTIME-Paramount Plus Merger

This past Sunday, March 26 was the second season premiere of the buzzy (pun intended), potentially supernatural drama “Yellowjackets” on Showtime. However, the episode actually debuted on Friday, March 24 on the network’s on-demand streaming platform SHOWTIME, and the decision to release the episode early ended up being a major win for the show’s ratings.

The Season 2 premiere of “Yellowjackets” drew in more than 2 million viewers across platforms, according to Showtime. That makes it the best second season debut for any show in over a decade, and breaks the record for on-demand streaming of a Showtime series first set by “Dexter: New Blood” in 2021. It also marks a 110% increase in viewers over the first season premiere.

“‘Yellowjackets’ broke records as the most streamed SHOWTIME debut ever thanks to our extraordinary ensemble cast who brought season two to even greater heights,” Showtime president and CEO Chris McCarthy said. “By tapping into our proven strategy of promoting series across our full portfolio of brands at Paramount Media Networks, we successfully broadened the reach and brought new viewers into this incredible series that deftly combines psychological horror, dark comedy and coming-of-age drama.”

The numbers for the “Yellowjacket” Season 2 premiere are especially impressive when stacked against recent prestige TV debuts like “The Last of Us” on HBO Max. That show drew 4.7 million cross-platform viewers to its season premiere in January, but HBO Max has 96 million global subscribers to distribute the show to, far more than Showtime.

Warner Bros. Discovery does not report subscriber totals for HBO Max and discovery+ separately, but it’s fair to assume at least a majority of the company’s streaming users are on HBO Max. Paramount also does not report subscriber totals for its various services (Paramount+, SHOWTIME, BET+ and Noggin), but it had just 77 million across all streaming platforms at last report. It’s also reasonable to assume that the majority of these users are on the flagship streamer, so “Yellowjackets” drawing over 2 million viewers is a notable accomplishment.

Yellowjackets

November 14, 2021

This equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama tells the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later.

The success of “Yellowjackets” might end up having pretty important implications for the future of content on Paramount+. That service will integrate SHOWTIME into its flagship streamer in the coming months, creating a new tier on the platform called “Paramount+ with Showtime.” To coincide with the change, Paramount Global has announced a new content strategy for Showtime, with an increased focus on spin-offs from popular franchises like “Dexter” and “Billions.”

Could new series based on “Yellowjackets” be in the planning stages, as well? While there’s been no official announcement from Paramount, there’s a good chance that more shows could be spawned from the hit series if its second season continues to draw big audience numbers. The more successful franchises Showtime has, the more spin-offs it can produce, and the more users will subscribe and stick around, at least in theory.

Paramount wants its streaming platforms to be an industry leader in providing general entertainment. Its franchise-focused strategy, combined with the generalized content already available on Paramount+, is a good way to achieve this goal, and that could mean more titles set in the “Yellowjackets” universe when the company merges its flagship streaming platform with Showtime this year.