Samba TV

We create data at the heart of TV, powering a more scientific approach to advertising and a better viewing experience for everyone.

06/05/2026

We need to talk about Euphoria S3.

This show has been in the top 3 for seven consecutive weeks. SEVEN. It spent three weeks stuck at #2 behind Apex. It finally got #1. Lost it. Dropped to #3. And this week it climbed all the way back to #1.

No other show has done that. Apex is long gone. The Kevin Hart Roast came and went. The Crash lasted a single week on top. Euphoria just keeps showing up.

Meanwhile Spider-Noir debuted at #3 with Nicolas Cage playing the character he voiced in Into the Spider-Verse but now in live action.

The Boroughs jumped from #6 to #2. And The Boys S5 finally fell off the chart after being there since day one of this series. Gone but not forgotten.

On broadcast, the AMAs took #1 and Wheel of Fortune set a new record with five episodes in the top 10. Five. We joked about it a few weeks ago when it had two or three. This is no longer a joke. Wheel of Fortune is the most dominant force in linear television and it is not particularly close.

The real question: how is Euphoria S3 pulling this off? Is it genuinely that good or is it just the show everyone has an opinion about?

06/04/2026

Here's a stat that should change how you think about streaming in 2026.

Netflix has grown its stand-up comedy catalog by 68% since 2020 from 290 titles to 486. Comedy now accounts for nearly 11% of everything the platform calls a "movie."

But Paramount+ actually leads on catalog share at 11.5%. With just 101 titles.
That context gap is exactly where media buying decisions go wrong. Catalog numbers tell you what platforms are betting on. Verified viewing behavior tells you whether those bets are paying off.

We want to hear from you: which streaming platform do you think has the strongest comedy lineup right now, and does the data match your gut?

06/02/2026

F1's media rights model is one of the most studied in global sport -- and for good reason.

Pay TV maximizes revenue and production quality. Free-to-air protects accessibility and reach.

Streaming is rewriting the rules entirely, with Apple TV's new exclusive U.S. deal the latest and boldest move in that direction.

But broadcast hours -- first-party data from the device, not surveys or assumptions, cut through the strategic complexity. They show you where fans are actually engaging, market by market, platform by platform.

DACH: 1,931 hours in H1 2025. That's not a media planning assumption. That's a demand signal that should be reshaping European sports investment strategies right now.

What data is your team using to make those calls? Share your experience in the comments.

06/01/2026

The numbers from the most-talked-about back-to-back nights in late-night television in a generation are in, and they are hard to sit with.

5.1 million US households watched Colbert's farewell on May 21. Paul McCartney closed the Ed Sullivan Theater. 33 years of CBS late-night history, over.

The next night: 171k households tuned into Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen in the same slot.

Here's the part most outlets aren't covering: CBS didn't hire a replacement. They sold the time slot outright. Allen Media Group buys the airtime and sells their own ads. It is a completely different business model, and it means CBS is now profitable in late night for the first time in years.

But the audience went somewhere else entirely.

So what actually killed appointment late-night viewing? Streaming? Political fatigue? Clip culture replacing the full episode? Or did it die quietly years ago and Colbert's finale was just the funeral?

Tell us what you think happened.

Source: Samba Data (May 21-22, 2026)

05/29/2026

Every week we post these charts and every week you tell us what we are missing. Keep it coming.

This week: The Crash went from #5 to #1 in one week. Jack Ryan: Ghost War debuted at #2. Euphoria keeps sliding. Prime Video tripled its presence. And Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard just entered at #9 with one of the most unsettling true crime stories in years.

On broadcast, Marshals finally dethroned American Idol after five weeks. That is a legitimate changing of the guard on linear TV.

Here is this week's question: we are now six weeks into tracking. Apex, Euphoria, Kevin Hart, and The Crash have all held #1. Which show has been the best overall? Not just the most popular. The BEST. Make your case.

05/28/2026

The way brands invest in TV advertising is changing fast.

EMARKETER's latest data shows CTV ad spend will overtake linear TV by 2027. By 2029, streaming will hold a nearly $18B lead. Established platforms still matter, but advertisers are spreading investment across multiple streaming services and leaning into multiplatform strategies.

It's a sign that streaming has moved from experimental to essential in the media mix. The brands that know how to navigate the fragmented landscape are the ones best positioned to win.

05/27/2026

Here's a fun one for the sports and media crowd.

We measured both NBA Conference Finals Game 1s this past week, and the results flipped the script on conventional wisdom.

Thunder vs. Spurs: 7.8M US households on NBC and Peacock.
Knicks vs. Cavs: 6.9M US households on ESPN and ESPN+.

Small-market matchup edges out the big-market one by nearly a million households. Is it the teams? The platforms? The time slots?

It's a strong reminder that audience behavior doesn't always follow the assumptions we've been sold. What do you think made the difference?

05/26/2026

52% of Netflix subscribers pay extra to skip ads entirely. On every other major platform, ad-supported wins, and it's not even close.

Paramount+ leads the pack at 85% ad-supported. Peacock comes in at 80%. Hulu at 75%. Meanwhile, 3 out of 4 viewers say streaming has too many ads, and 74% admit they grab their phones the second a commercial starts.

The data comes from All About Cookies' 2026 survey of 1,000 US adults, and the takeaway is pretty clear: viewers are tolerating ads, not enjoying them.

Which platform gets the ad load right? Drop your pick 👇

05/22/2026

We've been tracking streaming data for years and here is what we have learned: nothing stays at #1 for more than two weeks.

Apex had it for two weeks. Gone. Euphoria got it for one week. Dethroned. Now it is The Roast of Kevin Hart sitting on the throne and honestly, how long before something else comes for it?

The real winner of this entire month is Remarkably Bright Creatures. It debuted at #4 last week, climbed to #3 this week, and while flashier shows keep appearing and vanishing around it, the octopus show just keeps rising. Slow and steady.

Netflix has seven of the top 10 this week. At this point the streaming chart is basically "what is on Netflix plus three other shows."

On broadcast, American Idol has been #1 for five consecutive weeks. Some shows just have built-in loyalty.

Did you watch the Kevin Hart roast? What was the best joke? We know you have opinions.

05/20/2026

Two premieres. Two very different opening weekends.

U.S. Against the World drew 363K households on HBO Max. Welcome to Wrexham S5 debuted at 274K, well below Season 4's 485K launch last year.

With the 2026 World Cup approaching, we're asking a bigger question: how is tournament hype reshaping which soccer stories audiences choose to watch?

We're going to keep tracking this across every platform. But we want to hear from you first: is the World Cup changing what soccer content you're watching? Or are these just two different audiences?

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