Big Demand for New Stephen King Show On HBO

TV shows and movies based on stories by Stephen King have been frighteningly successful. And the new HBO series It: Welcome to Derry is on track to follow in the footsteps of hits like The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me and The Shining.

Welcome to Derry is prequel to the films It and It: Chapter 2 and tells early stories about Pennywise, the clown who feeds on children’s fear every 27 years.

According to Parrot Analytics, the pre-release U.S. audience demand for Welcome to Derry is higher than any other recent TV show adapted from a King work. 

Demand for Welcome to Derry is more than 30 times higher than the average show and tops MGM+’s The Institute, which generated 21.4 times the demand for the average series in its first 30 days.

“HBO appear to have a major genre hit on its hand before episode one even airs,” Chris Hamilton, Industry Insights Manager at Parrot Analytics said. 

For decades, movies based on King stories were staples on cable TV. Now streaming services are making new King content and the money is rolling in.

Since 2020, Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economy data show that adaptations of King works have generated more than $650 million in global streaming revenue. The top revenue generator was Castle Rock on Hulu with nearly $58 million in subscriber revenue, topping more familiar titles like Shawshank and The Shining. 

But Parrot notes that rewatchable King hits like Shawshank and The Green Mile are a big part of streaming’s long tail, delivering 10s of millions of dollars in streaming value decades after their release. 

For example, Shawshank, which was released in 1994, has generated $35.7 million since 2020. The film It has brought $28.5 million in value to streamers.

All of which proves that King’s storytelling has been remarkably durable in driving subscriber engagements and retention.

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The return of the NBA to NBC scored big numbers in terms of viewers. It was also a slam dunk for sponsors, NBCUniversal said.

NBC's NBA Tip-Off audiences were 20% more likely to search for advertisers vs the 2024-2025 NBA season average.

NBA Tip-Off games drove more social engagements than any other programming on Tuesday and were the #1 and #2 trending searches on Google.

NBC delivered for its sponsors from the start, as viewers believed key sponsorships in the Tip-Off telecasts were a 31% stronger fit than those in the NBA last regular season.  

NBCU was reportedly able to get $130,000 per 30 second commercial for regular season games on NBC, compared with the $50,000 Warner Bros. Discovery was getting last season for games on TNT.