UPDATE 10/4: The finale has aired. Check out CBN’s finale review and the fan reactions.
Lanterns just moved up on Nielsen for the first time.
The new chart covers September 14–20, and Lanterns climbs to No. 7 on the acquired list with 534 million minutes watched, its best rank and biggest number to date.
That’s three straight weeks on the Top 10, with the minutes going up every week.
Six episodes are in the count: the first five, plus the opening hours of Episode 6, which premiered the night of September 20.
Lanterns Passes Modern Family
Back in the premiere week, Lanterns missed the chart entirely, coming in under Modern Family.
This week, Modern Family sits one spot below it.
The Big Bang Theory is still No. 1, and still the only other HBO Max show in the top half of the chart.
The Weeks HBO Went Quiet
This chart covers Episode 5’s full week of viewing, and HBO never announced a viewership number for that episode.
The streamer put out numbers for the premiere and Episode 3, then went quiet until Episode 7 this week. Episodes 2, 4, 5, and 6 got nothing.
Nielsen just filled in one of the quiet weeks, and it turns out to be the show’s biggest so far.
The Finale, Then The Merger
Three weeks of rising numbers, and Season 2 is still not greenlit.
James Gunn confirmed the finale is a season finale, not a series finale, which is not a renewal. HBO boss Casey Bloys remains on record that no Season 2 is in development.
Per Variety, the series is also averaging well below The Penguin, which never got a second season.
The finale streams Sunday, October 4 on HBO Max. The Paramount merger closes October 6, with Gunn and Peter Safran staying on at DC “at least initially”.
Nielsen’s next chart covers September 21–27 and lands days after the finale.
By then, the show will have finished its season, and Skydance will own it.
