1.1 million viewers watched at least the first episode on their TVs at the start of the fifth season of “The Crown” on November 9th. This is the result of figures from the Barb quota system, which the BBC reports. Netflix joined the system last week, bringing viewership figures for the streaming giant’s UK audience for the first time.
According to those numbers, 666,000 people watched the second episode and almost 300,000 watched the third episode. Ratings dropped with each subsequent episode, until the tenth and final episode drew an audience of around 100. In comparison, 7.9 million people watched the British jungle camp ‘I’m A Celebrity’ on ITV on November 9. Does the streaming platform have to worry about one of its biggest brands when Brits show so little interest in it?
What to consider about the numbers: viewers of the new season of “The Crown” can watch for a longer period of time and don’t have to tune in all in one day. Also missing from the Barb stats are people watching the show on laptops, tablets, and phones.
A series cannot offer the “live factor” of the British jungle camp. What happens in the reality format one day is outdated the next. Those who are hungry for sensations are therefore currently more likely to be talking to Mike Tindall (44). The former rugby player is the husband of Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall (41), daughter of Princess Anne (72) and is the first member of the British royal family in the Australian jungle. Many are hoping for gossip about the real British nobility.
In general, the series is too “creative” for many. The fifth season of The Crown chronicles the fortunes of the royal family in the 1990s and has been criticized for taking liberties with historical accuracy. As early as the fourth season, not everyone agreed with the ideas of the makers. Former Prime Minister John Major (79), who is played by Jonny Lee Miller (49) in “The Crown”, described one plot line in the new episodes as “a bunch of nonsense”. In the series, Prince Charles, with Major’s help, wants to urge the Queen, who the heir to the throne thinks is too old-fashioned, to abdicate.
Acting icon Judi Dench (87) even described the series in an open letter as “cruelly unfair”. In the Times piece, Dench found that as the show draws nearer to the present day, the creators seem more willing to “blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism.” Even with Prince William (40) it was speculated that he should not like the subject of the Diana interview from 1995.
