Confirmed: Prime Video’s biggest show isn’t what you think it is… because it’s a mystery

Does Prime Video have a new biggest show? Simply put: no, it doesn’t. 

Reports emerged yesterday (June 21) that The Boys had been knocked from its perch as Prime Video’s biggest show by a newcomer and was no longer the number one offering on the streaming service. The top show now was new teen drama, The Summer I Turned Pretty. 

However, we weren’t able to validate this data, which seemed odd given we’ve not seen many listings of what’s top of the charts for Prime Video. 

TechRadar spoke to Amazon and a representative for Prime Video confirmed that this is not true, and no guidance has been issued over the top show.

While, The Summer I Turned Pretty does seem to be a hit with lots of anecdotal evidence that it’s been a hit with viewers and a second season already commissioned by Prime Video, it isn’t the streaming service’s most-streamed show. 

What is Prime Video’s biggest show then?

Simply put, it doesn’t have one, at least publicly. Unlike Netflix, which has been publishing a weekly list detailing its most popular TV shows and movies (opens in new tab) over a seven-day period since November 2021, Prime Video doesn’t offer up that kind of information.

As Prime Video’s spokesperson confirmed to TechRadar: “Amazon typically doesn’t issue viewing figures or that type of data”. 

In fact, Netflix is bit of an outlier in being quite so public about what it’s subscribers are watching.

To find out figures from Prime Video, Hulu or Disney Plus, we’re largely forced to either rely on surveys or on figures from Nielsen, which has provided viewing figures for more traditional broadcast networks.  (opens in new tab)

Nielsen installs trackers inside devices, which capture information on what’s being viewed, when, by whom and how many people in a household are watching. 

Prime Video’s shows are part of these figures, but Nielsen’s rankings aren’t exactly up the minute. The service’s most-recent figures are from the week ending May 22, and, given The Summer I Turned Pretty dropped last Friday (June 17), it has yet to trouble Nielsen’s published rankings. 

A Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab) piece a few weeks ago named Reacher as a big hit for Prime Video and their best guess at the platform’s biggest show, with estimates of 5.76 billion minutes of viewing during the show’s first six weeks . But again, those are Nielsen’s figures, not Prime Video’s. 

The Boys is a big hit for Prime Video and it’s no wonder they’ve announced a fourth season. According to the same report, the show’s second season did 4.8 billion minutes over its first six weeks, and a source said the new season has been bigger, but provided no data to back that up. 

Want to read more about The Boys’ third season? We’ve interviewed the key execs and got the inside track here…