Prime Video Cancels 'Ride or Die' Despite Top Ratings — SkimNews
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- Prime Video opted not to renew 'Ride or Die' after one season, with Paramount Television Studios now shopping the Hannah Waddingham–Octavia Spencer series to other buyers — a move that caught everyone involved off guard given the show's performance.
- 'Ride or Die' launched July 15 on a fraction of the marketing money Amazon gave its YA summer lineup and immediately hit No. 1 on Luminate's daily U.S. rankings, eclipsing big-budget film 'Masters of the Universe.'
- The show logged 927K views in just two days — twice 'Elle's' 477K and nearly four times 'Off Campus'' 245K — and reached No. 1 in U.S. minutes watched in its first full week with 3.85M views, doubling 'Elle' and tripling 'Off Campus.'
- Globally, 'Ride or Die' was Prime Video's No. 1 most watched original series for its first three weeks and is said to be Prime Video's most watched new scripted series in the U.S. over its first 14 days of release.
- The series scored 96% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics and 85% with audiences; Season 1 ended on several cliffhangers that set up major storylines for a potential second installment.
- Peacock's 'The Five Star Weekend,' a similarly themed 50-something female friendship show that launched in July to strong U.S. viewership, has been renewed for a second season.
Why it matters: Prime Video declined to renew 'Ride or Die' despite it topping its global originals chart for three weeks and nearly quadrupling the first-two-day views of renewed stablemates 'Elle' and 'Off Campus.' The show launched with only a fraction of the marketing spend given to Amazon's renewed YA slate, while a comparable 50-something female friendship series on Peacock was renewed — a split that puts Paramount Television Studios in the unusual position of reselling a proven hit with cliffhangers intact.
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