‘Paradise’ Finds Success on Streaming in Heavenly Opening Week

A little over a week has gone by since the very first episode of Paradise was released on Hulu, and of course, Disney couldn’t wait to announce its incredibly impressive streaming viewership via Variety. Led by Sterling K. Brown and from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman, Paradise drew 7 million views across its first nine days of streaming, further cementing its position as one of Hulu’s top series. This is based on streaming for its premiere episode only.

Disney defines every production’s view as the total stream time for an episode divided by its runtime. With that, the “Wildcat Is Down” episode of Paradise clocks in at a bit over 48 minutes long. The installment debuted as a surprise release on Hulu and Disney+ at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 26, ahead of the scheduled drop of the show’s first three episodes on Tuesday, January 28. It streamed across Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.

Comparing the political drama to a similarly successful Hulu show, The Bear also had an equally remarkable viewership with its third season’s premiere episode. The episode reached 5.4 million views in its first four days of streaming last June. However, while The Bear had all its episodes released at once on the streamer, Paradise is yet to do so, as its remaining episodes in Season 1 will roll out every Tuesday on Hulu. In the meantime, the thriller has remained in the Hulu Top 15 list, which is updated daily, throughout its first week of availability.

‘Paradise’ Also Found Success on Network TV

Aside from being successful on streaming, Paradise’s debut on cable network amassed a laudable record as Disney aired its premiere episode on ABC and FX during the days following its initial drop. According to Nielsen’s Live + 5 Day ratings, it drew another 1.4 million viewers in a special 10:09 p.m. broadcast on ABC on January 29, after which the episode made its cable debut on February 1 at 10 p.m. on FX to 250,000 viewers per Live + 2 Day data. Furthermore, Hulu has revealed that the show’s TikTok account has drawn the most views and shares compared to all first-season scripted Hulu shows over the past twelve months.

Season 1 of Paradise, which comprises eight episodes, follows Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) in his life protecting former president Cal Bradford (James Marsden) in a quaint community. The premiere highlights Cal’s murder, and because of his unstable relationship with Xavier before his death, Xavier is left behind as the top suspect.

New episodes of Paradise land on Hulu on Tuesdays.