Media companies took major steps in 2021 to boost their streaming businesses, making huge reorganizations and experimenting with distribution strategies.
The latter meant that some movies that premiered in theaters were released on streaming simultaneously. Warner Bros. released all of its movies in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time last year. Other studios, from Universal to Disney, also experimented with select titles to boost their streaming components amid the pandemic.
Many of these movies drove high engagement for their respective streaming platforms, according to the analytics company Diesel Labs. The company released its 2021 streaming report this week, including which titles drove the most online buzz for the eight major streaming platforms.
They include:
Diesel Labs measures audience engagement based on data from social and video platforms Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.
The company only counted new titles that premiered in 2021. That means popular titles like Apple's "Ted Lasso," which aired its second season last year, didn't make the cut.
It did count movies that streamed simultaneously while playing in theaters, which drove engagement for Max, Peacock, and Paramount+. Disney tried this strategy, too, but its engagement was dominated by new Marvel Cinematic Universe shows.
Warner Bros.' movie strategy certainly helped drive subscribers as well as engagement last year. Max and HBO ended 2021 with a combined 73.8 million subscribers. WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar told Insider recently that he'd "make the same decision again," even though the plan angered many in Hollywood after it was announced in late 2020. But in 2022, Warner Bros. plans to release movies with exclusive, but shortened, theatrical windows.
Genre titles also drove engagement overall.
The fantasy series "The Wheel of Time" was Amazon's top new series last year, according to Diesel Labs. The fantasy show "Shadow and Bone" and the animated "League of Legends" series "Arcane" were hits for Netflix. The big-budget sci-fi series "Foundation" was one of Apple's top shows. And superhero content drove engagement for HBO Max as well as Disney+.
Below are the five exclusive or original new titles that drove the most engagement for eight major streaming services last year: