The top 20 HBO Max TV shows on streaming search engine Reelgood show the popularity of its originals and exclusives
Travis Clark
- The streaming search engine Reelgood provided Business Insider with data on the 20 most popular series on HBO Max among Reelgood's 2 million users in the US.
- Of the top 20 shows, 12 can be found on Max but not traditional HBO.
- Three months after launch, HBO Max still isn't on the Roku and Amazon Fire TV platforms, the two biggest streaming distributors. That means subscribers can only watch HBO content on these devices, not Max originals or exclusives.
- The popularity of Max content with Reelgood users suggests this could be hampering the service.
Three months after launch, HBO Max still isn't on the Roku and Amazon Fire TV platforms, the two biggest streaming distributors.
That means that HBO Max subscribers can't watch Max originals or exclusives on these platforms, and new viewing data suggests this could be hampering the service.
The streaming search engine Reelgood provided Business Insider with the top 20 HBO Max shows that its 2 million users in the US had streamed from May 28 to August 16, based on data from the number of streams initiated via Reelgood on desktop and mobile devices. Reelgood did not disclose the demographics of its user base, which could not be a representative sampling of HBO Max users. But still, the data gives a snapshot into what HBO Max users are watching.
While HBO originals like "Game of Thrones" and "Watchmen" are popular, Max exclusives and originals have also broken through. Of the top 20 shows on HBO Max, 12 can be found on Max but not traditional HBO. In July, WarnerMedia also released its own (unranked) list of top 25 shows HBO Max shows, which included eight Max originals.
This all means that viewers using Roku and Amazon devices to stream are likely missing out on a big chunk of HBO Max's popular programming. That includes hit shows that WarnerMedia dropped millions of dollars for exclusive streaming rights to, like "Friends" and "South Park," along with originals like DC's "Doom Patrol" and "Legendary."
WarnerMedia's parent company AT&T announced last month that 4.1 million users had activated the Max app, 3 million of which signed up directly to Max. That means that just over 1 million users who were already paying for HBO through a cable or live TV provider accessed Max, a small number compared to HBO's more than 30 million subscribers. The lack of Roku and Amazon support could be one reason more have not switched.
Below are the top 20 shows on HBO Max, according to Reelgood data:
20. "The Wire" (HBO original) —1.8% of HBO Max streams initiated through Reelgood
Description: "In the city of Baltimore, there are good guys and there are bad guys. Sometimes you need more than a badge to tell them apart. This highly realistic and totally unvarnished drama series chronicles the vagaries of crime, law enforcement, politics, education and media in Baltimore as it follows a team of cops and the criminals they are after."
19. "South Park" (Max exclusive) — 2.5%
Description: "Relive the dawn of the South Park era, with legendary episodes of the groundbreaking, Emmy Award-winning animated classic. Follow everyone's favorite troublemakers — Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny — from the very beginning of their unforgettable adventures."
18. "Westworld" (HBO original) — 2.5%
Description: "In this series set in a futuristic Wild West fantasy park, a group of android 'hosts' deviate from their programmers' carefully planned scripts in a disturbing pattern of aberrant behavior. With an exceptional cast headed by Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright, 'Westworld' was inspired by Michael Crichton's 1973 film."
17. "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" (HBO original) — 2.7%
Description: "Directed by Academy Award nominee and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus (HBO's Who Killed Garrett Phillips), this riveting six-part documentary series, based on the book of the same name, explores writer Michelle McNamara's investigation into the dark world of a violent predator she dubbed the Golden State Killer who terrorized California in the 1970s and 1980s."
16. "Love Life" (Max original) — 2.8%
Description: "This romantic comedy series tracks Darby Carter across her twenties as she navigates work and romance in New York City, often with the insecurities of youth bubbling to the surface. We first meet Darby in 2012 as an NYU grad living with three roommates: impulsive best friend Sara, Sara's easy-going boyfriend Jim, and brutally honest friend Mallory. Following Darby over the next several years, Love Life shows how each of Darby's encounters brings her closer to finding her "person", even if she doesn't know it yet."
15. "Watchmen" (HBO original) — 2.8%
Description: "Set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, this epic series from Damon Lindelof ('Lost'; HBO's 'The Leftovers') embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name, while attempting to break new ground of its own. Regina King stars as a lead detective in the Tulsa Police Force and a wife and mother of three."
14. "Doctor Who" (Max exclusive) — 3.1%
Description: "An eccentric yet compassionate extraterrestrial Time Lord zips through time and space to solve problems and battle injustice across the universe."
13. "Sesame Street" (also on HBO) —3.2%
Description: "For more than four decades, 'Sesame Street' has helped children grow smarter, stronger and kinder by providing preschoolers with the gold-standard in quality educational programming. Now, the iconic series comes to HBO with 30-minute episodes, new preschool-relevant themes, new opening and closing songs, an updated set, and new segments, characters, and more."
12. "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (Max exclusive) — 3.7%
Description: "Will's mom sends him away from his rough Philadelphia neighborhood to live with wealthy Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian in Bel-Air. Will often has fun at the expense of stuck-up cousins Carlton and Hilary."
11. "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" (HBO original) —3.7%
Description: "Breaking news, on a weekly basis. Comedian John Oliver satirically covers the week in news, politics and current events in this Emmy-winning variety series."
10. "Pretty Little Liars" (Max exclusive) — 4.2%
Description: "When their best friend Alison mysteriously vanishes, four girls believe their secrets are safe forever. But when they begin to receive threatening messages from someone named 'A', the truth may be only one text away."
9. "Legendary" (Max original) — 5.3%
Description: "The fabulous HBO Max original reality competition series Legendary follows legit voguing Houses, some established, some new to the scene, as they compete for the largest ballroom grand prize ever: $100,000. This season kicks off with the iconic Houses of Escada, Ebony, Ninja, Gucci, West, St. Laurent, Lanvin, and Balmain in a heated, jaw-dropping competition to secure the bag and claim legendary status. Hosted by MC Dashaun Wesley, with beats by DJ MikeQ, each new episode finds these chosen family units facing off in fashion and dance challenges that culminate in nightly 'Superior House' designations, while judges Law Roach, Jameela Jamil, Leiomy Maldonado, and Megan Thee Stallion determine who has what it takes to move forward, and who gets chopped."
8. "The Big Bang Theory" (Max exclusive) — 5.5%
Description: "Mensa-fied best friends and roommates Leonard and Sheldon, physicists who work at the California Institute of Technology, may be able to tell everybody more than they want to know about quantum physics but getting through most basic social situations, especially ones involving women, totally baffles them. How lucky, then waitress but aspiring actress Penny moves in next door. Frequently seen hanging out with Leonard and Sheldon are friends and fellow Caltech scientists Wolowitz and Koothrappali. Will worlds collide? Does Einstein theorize in the woods?"
7. "The Alienist" (Max exclusive) — 5.5%
Description: "Set in 1896 amidst a backdrop of vast wealth, extreme poverty and technological innovation, this psychological thriller stars Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning and Brian Geraghty. Viewers will be transported into the darkest corners of New York City during the Gilded Age."
6. "Friends" (Max exclusive) — 6.6%
Description: "Six young people, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world, find the companionship, comfort and support they get from each other to be the perfect antidote to the pressures of life."
5. "Close Enough" (Max original) — 6.7%
Description: "Close Enough is an animated comedy series about a motley crew of housemates living on the east side of Los Angeles: married couple Emily and Josh, their five-year-old daughter Candice, and their divorced best friends Bridgette and Alex. Looking to make the leap from carefree twenty-somethings to adulting pros, Josh, Emily, and their BFFs are navigating that transitional time in your 30s when life is about growing up, but not growing old. It's about juggling work, kids, and latent dreams - while dodging time-traveling snails, stripper clowns, and murderous mannequins. Their life may not be ideal, but for now, it's close enough."
4. "Perry Mason" (HBO original) — 7.9%
Description: "The world's most renowned fictional lawyer is back on the case in this exciting HBO series that tells the origin story of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason. Set in 1932 Los Angeles, this edgy, noirish update puts a new spin on the iconic character with Mason (Matthew Rhys) as a low-rent private investigator who digs into a controversial and politically loaded case."
3. "Doom Patrol" (Max original) — 9.1%
Description: "Doom Patrol is a team of traumatized and downtrodden superheroes, each of whom has suffered a horrible accident that gave them superhuman abilities but also left them scarred and disfigured. The members of the team have found their purpose through The Chief and have come together to investigate some of the world's weirdest phenomena. After The Chief mysteriously disappears, though, the reluctant heroes find themselves called to action by Cyborg, who comes to them with a mission that they cannot refuse. Doom Patrol, part support group, part superhero team, is a band of super-powered freaks fighting for a world that wants nothing to do with them."
2. "Rick and Morty" (available on Max and not HBO) — 9.9%
Description: "After having been missing for nearly 20 years, Rick Sanchez suddenly arrives at daughter Beth's doorstep to move in with her and her family. Although Beth welcomes Rick into her home, her husband, Jerry, isn't as happy about the family reunion. Jerry is concerned about Rick, a sociopathic scientist, using the garage as his personal laboratory. In the lab, Rick works on a number of sci-fi gadgets, some of which could be considered dangerous. But that's not all Rick does that concerns Jerry. He also goes on adventures across the universe that often involve his grandchildren, Morty and Summer."
"Rick and Morty" is also available on Hulu.
1. "Game of Thrones" (HBO original) — 10.2%
Description: "Trouble is brewing in Westeros. For the inhabitants of this world, control of the Iron Throne holds the lure of great power. But in a land where seasons can last a lifetime, winter is coming ... and beyond the Great Wall that protects them, a forgotten evil has returned. HBO presents this epic series based on the book series 'A Song of Ice and Fire' by George R.R. Martin."
Here's a further breakdown of how Max exclusives have fared on HBO Max.
During quarantine, the percentage of shows being watched on Max that were exclusive to the service hit a high throughout July, according to Reelgood. Of the top 50 shows that Reelgood users were watching, 68% of them were Max exclusives.
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