Ahsoka Viewership Numbers Lag Behind Two Other Star Wars Series
With the advent of streaming, the most popular franchises have a chance to always remain in the public consciousness. On Disney+, that means fans never have to go too long without a Marvel or "Star Wars" show to keep them invested in these stories. Many have questioned whether this could lead to franchise fatigue, with viewership numbers holding greater weight than ever.
Deadline reports how the data's in for the two-episode premiere of "Ahsoka," which debuted on the platform on August 22. The new show, which picks up where the animated "Star Wars Rebels" left off, brought in 1.2 million households for its first episode for its live+5 day. The second saw a bit of a decline, with 956,000 homes in the United States. This puts it on par with the first episode of "Andor," which also had 1.2 million households for the same time period.
However, it's significantly behind other recent "Star Wars" series. "Obi-Wan Kenobi" had nearly double the viewership, pulling in 2.4 million households for its first episode. "The Mandalorian" Season 3 was also a bit ahead, earning 1.7 million. They're good numbers, but the question is whether "Ahsoka" can keep up the pace in the weeks to come.
Ahsoka looks a lot better with its global numbers
To an extent, the viewership numbers for "Ahsoka" shouldn't be surprising. "Obi-Wan Kenobi" brought back Ewan McGregor as the titular Jedi, often considered one of the best parts of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy. No doubt, many people were excited to see him return. Meanwhile, "The Mandalorian" recently wrapped its third season, having already established itself as must-watch television. There's a chance viewers were more skeptical of checking out "Ahsoka," especially seeing how it seemed in marketing to effectively function as "Star Wars Rebels" Season 5. People may not have wanted homework before watching the show, even though it fills in the blanks for viewers in the first two episodes.
Fortunately, Disney+ and Lucasfilm paint a much brighter picture with global viewership numbers. The "Star Wars" website shared how the first episode of Ahsoka — "Master and Apprentice" — was the most-watched title on Disney+ last week with 14 million viewers around the world. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy offered these words of praise to those who made this possible, "I want to recognize the fantastic work done by our creative team, led by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, the incredible cast led by Rosario Dawson, and our talented crew — and on behalf of the team and all of Lucasfilm, we give our thanks to all the fans who have been with Ahsoka on every step of her journey and to all those who are just learning about her now in Ahsoka on Disney+."
It remains to be seen how the rest of the season will do. But the fact Dave Filoni might make a "Star Wars" movie that brings together characters and events from "Ahsoka" and other properties may convince some down the line that the series is, indeed, worth watching.