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The DC Universe’s ratings and what can be done

By Skyler Sneathen

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How can DC Universe improve its current ratings and become more successful?

The DC Universe streaming service is only a few months old now. Titans Season 1 is over and now we are enjoying Young Justice: Outsiders. How is this new streaming service from DC doing though?

DC Universe’s Current Ratings

At the current moment, the ratings for the DC Universe are sub-par at best. This does not include the numbers of January at present. With that said, DC Universe only has roughly 150,000 downloads. More than half of this comes from iTunes. Over $600,000 in revenue has been generated from DC Universe. Over 66% of this comes from iTunes. Safe to say Google is not helping a lot here, in comparison to Apple. The possibility may also stem from a larger adoption rate of Apple T.V.’s. Now it is the #7 top grossing app on GooglePlay. On iTunes, it ranks at #115 under the entertainment category.

Understandably, some may want to stay hopeful and feel positive about these numbers. In comparison, Netflix has over 8 million downloads, generating $52 million in revenue. These numbers are from iTunes only. However, this come off as unfair, given Netflix is already a huge brand name, that almost every household has. Even for those people who do not have Netflix, they certainly know of it. DC Universe is still relatively new. Reception wise, the service is by no means getting a bad rep. On both Google and iTunes, it averages three out of five stars.

What Can Make DC Universe More Successful?

At the current moment, there is barely any exclusive content. You have Titans and Young Justice: Outsiders. There is also the exclusive DC Daily series, which features a panel discussing certain DC topics and news about comics, movies and more. Now more is in store, like Doom Patrol next month. Subscribing now for only two shows is not a huge seller. Plus, DC Universe took a different approach with their shows by releasing a new episode each week. This runs contrary to all other digital television shows, where the entire season drops at once. Whether this is a hindrance is its own discussion.

More from DC Universe

Adding to this lack of exclusive content is its other current content. We have all old television shows and movies. This is no doubt a nice perk, that one can go back and watch Lois & Clark or Justice League at the click of a button. Let’s be honest, any die-hard fan probably already owns these movies and or shows on DVD already. Hence, the need for more exclusive content is evident. This is an opportunity for not only more shows, but also movies. Imagine DC hiring some indie directors doing their own take on (insert DC Comics character here). In fact, some people are clamoring for a release of the Snyder Cut of Justice League on DC Universe.

Although, another problem stems from the fact that this service appeals to a niche’ audience. This audience is mainly composed of comic book nerds and die-hard DC Comics fans. A general audience can find anything on say, Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime. Can they do the same on DC Universe, though? Probably not! Therefore, they may even try to make original content not even based on their pre-existing properties. Another possible stimulus is having a month-long free trial like Netflix, and not only a week. They may even want to re-think their deal with Netflix. Why pay for DC Universe when I can wait for the show to appear on Netflix, especially right after the last episode of the season drops?

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Time can only tell how the DC Universe will do in the long run. Streaming is the way now of television and some movies. Everyone wants in on it and not wanting to rely on other services. They want a piece of the pie and to deliver their content on their own terms. Hopefully, DC Universe can figure out their terms and get a bigger slice of the pie.

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