By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The Wheel of Time is the wheel deal, based on early numbers. With the finale arriving Friday, Dec. 24, the big question is: Where will Season 2 land on a Prime Video slate that in 2022 will add The Lord of The Rings to its ranks?
As reported by Nielsen, Prime Video’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time fantasy saga amassed 1.16 billion minutes viewed across its first three episodes, easily topping the U.S. ranking of streaming original series. In doing so, it became the streamer’s second-most watched series launch since Hunters in February 2020. And mind you, The Wheel of Time was already renewed for a second season, way back in May.
TVLine spoke with Vernon Sanders, Amazon Studios’ Head of Global TV, about the fantasy series’ well-watched debut, how its weekly release is working out, and where it fits into Prime Video’s ever-growing slate of genre TV.
TVLINE | How soon after a show like Wheel of Time premieres do you at the office see things trending in such a very right direction?
We track our content in a number of ways, and I have to say, Wheel of Time has just been so fantastic. It’s fantastic to see not only the huge numbers of people who have checked it out, but since the incredible premiere we’ve also tracked tremendous growth, which is extraordinarily encouraging for the future of this show. New people are coming on board and checking the show out, new people are tracking it week-to-week…. And we are seeing those same patterns not only in the U.,S. but across the globe. In layman’s terms, it’s a show that has great staying power.
TVLINE | So, no drop-off from viewership of the premiere to Episode 3? People are sticking around?
The metrics that were released by Nielsen, obviously those were just for the first three episodes, but we are seeing not only incredible retention but in some metrics we are seeing incredible growth.
TVLINE | This is a show that you chose to renew well ahead of its premiere. Was that decision based on something you were actually seeing, in early footage or cuts, or was it simply the reality that with a project of this scope, if you’re in for a penny you’re in for a pound? And additional seasons can only amortize start-up costs?
We’re fans of the show, and as episodes come in and we saw the level of craftsmanship, and as we continued to talk to [showrunner] Rafe [Judkins] about where future seasons would go, we felt really confident that we had something that could go for a very long time for us. These are giant investments, so obviously we spent quite a bit of time making sure we were making the right choice here, but it continues to pay off for us. All credit to Rafe and his incredible team, and the cast led by Rosamund [Pike as Moiraine].
TVLINE | We all know that at the “other” streaming place, it’s largely about “completion rate within 28 days!” For a Prime Video series that is not renewed ahead of premiere, what sort of window do you look at?
We’re constantly checking, and it’s valuable to us to be able to assess that one piece of content versus another piece of content. But one of the interesting things about Wheel of Time is that we are releasing it weekly, so that means that we have to look beyond a 28-day window. And even if we were just looking at this by 28 days, the way the show has performed has been astounding — and we will continue to watch, as we head into the finale. I can’t wait for fans of the show to see how the season ends and where we are headed.
TVLINE | How is this “Three episodes at premiere, then weekly” release model working for you?
We haven’t done a lot of it, as you know. We started it with The Boys [Season 2], and a lot of it comes down to our creators and the way in which they would like to release content to the fans. It’s early days, so I can’t make any grand pronouncements, but it’s been great so far. We are seeing signs that new people are coming on board to check out the show week after week. There’s an intensity, and all of the coverage and conversation has only helped us.
TVLINE | From where I sit — and I’m admittedly “old school” — weekly releases keep the conversation going. You end an episode with a reveal or twist, and people talk about it for six days while waiting for the next episode. With an investment like this, it would have been a shame to do a binge release where “Everybody’s talking about it for a weekend! Annnd… now they’re not.”
Our North Star is usually about making sure we are giving content in a way that customers will want to watch it. There are some people who prefer this model, and other folks who prefer the binge, but a piece like this I feel warrants this kind of release. And for folks who prefer to binge, they’ll have that ability as of later this week.
TVLINE | Some of The Boys‘ fans were grumbling last season, I am sure you know.
Yeah. I know it was frustrating for them, especially since the first season wasn’t released [weekly]. We definitely acknowledge that that was a change-up, but we’ve seen tremendous growth in The Boys as was well, so in that case [weekly releases] proved to be a benefit. The footprint of the show became bigger because of it.
TVLINE | Any sense at this early stage how soon Season 2 of Wheel of Time might roll around?
We’re still talking about it. Rafe and his team just sent us their first cuts of the first episodes of Season 2, and I cannot wait for the audience to see what we have in store.
TVLINE | I ask because you obviously have an opportunity to run this back-to-back next year with the Lord of the Rings prequel series (premiering Sept, 2, 2022).
We are going to be really thoughtful about how we release these shows. In our minds, they are very different shows, but we are cognizant of our genre fans, and we are excited about the collection of content we have — those two, along with The Expanse and The Boys, Carnival Row is coming back, we have a fantastic show with [Westworld creators] Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy called The Peripheral…. We are very excited about the future.
TVLINE | You could have six straight months of weekly genre releases!
It’s really true. But Wheel of Time has been really important for us, and to see that it has done so well for us in 2021, I keep saying, “It’s the Christmas gift that keeps giving.”
TVLINE | With Wheel of Time, was there any window in the process where, gaining a sense of how it might perform, you were able to say, “You know what? Go even bigger with Season 2″?
Yes. Rafe has been a fantastic leader — thoughtful, kind, really dedicated to trying to do this the right way — and Rosamund as well. So we absolutely went into Season 2 with a real conversation about, “What can we do even better now that we have introduced this giant world and established these characters? So I will absolutely predict that Season 2 will be bigger, bolder, and a more expansive Wheel of Time.
Want scoop on The Wheel of Time, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
Having a year between WoT and LotR isn’t encouraging. They’ll probably want to have some time between the shows, which could mean a close to 18 month wait.
“It’s the Christmas gift that keeps giving.”
I read this as season 2 one year from now. I dont see any reason it wont be ready by next fall, but you never know.
It’ll definitely be ready. I think it’s more about having enough time between 2 shows of the same genre. Will people who watch LotR want to watch WoT if they are released too close together?
If Amazon sticks to their 8 episode mantra, LotR would air its finale just before Halloween. This would leave a few weeks before a potential Black Friday premiere. I can see it.
I believe LotR show budget/episodes will dwarf Wot. Season 1 of LotR is apparently around 23 episodes with a $420 million budget… Could’ve been a nonsense report but that’s what I read.
Those numbers are definitely off. They likely couldn’t film 5 episodes of LotR for that amount, much less 23.
I’m guessing 10 or 13 episodes for the first season.
I vote for weekly release & 10 episodes per half year.
I can’t imagine why anyone is doing a LOTR – prequel, sequel or reboot. Tolkien already did the perfect & complete story.
Robert Jordan agrees.
He did? I seem to remember him dying before finishing the Silmarillion. Who knows what else would have come along? If the show is even decent it’ll give fans something new to enjoy now that we have basically every freakin word he wrote on Middle Earth or not, and it’ll bring new people into the world. That’s how things stay alive. I’m looking forward to it!
OK, ok, I stand corrected. Didn’t realize they were developing a different part of Tolkien. I read Hobbit/LotR when I was, like, 14 & we won’t discuss how long ago that was. I liked the movies. Never read Silmarillion – because he didn’t finish it.
I happen to be one of those readers/viewers who wants to finish a story and then read/see something new. It often seems the film industry’s gotten stuck extending known stories forever & ignoring new stuff that’s out there. It’s like having only one flavor of ice cream.
Bringing new people in is great, though I think Tolkien, much like Shakespeare or Jane Austen, will have fans for generations to come.
If Amazon does well with their LotR, I’ll be happy to cheer. It’s just an awfully high bar they have to reach.
Tolkien created a vast and detailed world, but his storytelling is nowhere near “complete.” There are huge 1000 year swaths of history and entire civilizations that are mentioned briefly in a footnote in an appendix at the end of a book.
If LOTR is airing in September, they should just air WOT season 2 right after, which would put it on roughly around the same time it aired this year.
I completely agree. It will probably grow the audience even more, since people will be craving fantasy after LotR.
They need about 4 weeks in between to wind down the hype for LOTR and wind up the hype for WOT.
I’ve been loving the series so far, and felt like it got better as it went. My only complaints (besides one or two of their choices when making changes) is that there HASN’T BEEN ENOUGH! This show is begging for either more or longer episodes so they can go more into depth and clean up some of the pacing issues. Can we get extended editions and directors cuts? 10 episode seasons? AMAZON GIVE ME MOOORE WHEEL OF TIME!
I agree longer episodes, but I don’t mind waiting longer for episodes maybe 2 weeks only if the episodes are feature film length, 90 minutes.
Make each episode an event.
I’m really into the series so far, the location and colors really stand out on the TV. Absolutely stunning cinematography.
Unless the finale is unbelievably cool then i’m getting off this weird ride.
I wanna love this show but not a single character is likeable. 7 episodes in and they’re all just as whiney and annoying as they were in episode 1.
Lol then the showrunners did a great job! The first book or three the kids are kids. I heard a huge complaint was that Rand was Anakin… It’s spot on! It’s like George Lucas read EotW before he wrote the Prequels haha
This show is a hot mess. So many inconsistencies and contradictions throughout. There are hardly even any scenes that are in the books. They basically just wrote a whole new story. It’s hard to watch. I’m curious as to why they decided to go this route, and change the whole story. They basically marginalized all the male characters in the story. None of the characters personalities in this show, match up with how they are in the books. None.
OH NO NOT THE MEN!!! :(((
I kid, I’m basically only making it to the finale (and maybe beyond, who knows) b/c the women aren’t as minimal as I understand they were in the books.
I also understand that everyone (book fans) hates Rand for the first like two or three books? So why not give him less attention until he grows up a bit?
And just like all the male focused shows have one or two really cool female characters, I’m sure Rand and the wolf guy (Perrin? I like him) will get their moments…
They all get their moments. It seems like a lot of book readers didn’t realize what they were reading… The author wrote the book in the late 80s so cultural themes were different but the books were/are definitely progressive for their time. It’s a world controlled by women (for the most part) since men destroyed it. So having a ton of strong leading women is nothing jarring or out of place. I explain the changes to my dad (non book reader) as the show taking a different route to get to the same place. Sure some events have changed but the overall story arcs are still there. To me, it was a rough start to the series but each episode has gotten better. I honestly kind of like having a different story told but with the same outcome.
It’s not that it’s men vs women characters, it’s that none of them are likeable. Rand kinda fits but is far more angsty teen, Matt went from happy go lucky scamp to brooding abused child trying to escape, Perrin went from WoT’s Samwise to a guilt ridden murderer incapable of controlling his rage, Lan went from strong silent type to a leading role that won’t STFU.
It’s like they grabbed the cheapest 90210 writer, gave him a 10 second intro to each character, and said drama this up with the men as supporting characters so don’t bother giving them any redeeming qualities. Make all the females Wonder woman. But not the fun WW, the brooding WW.
It’s seriously a high magic fantasy where they removed all of the whimsical fantasy and tripled down on brooding drama. There’s no adventure, just angsty squabbles and overwhelming doom. This is what killed Stargate for SciFi and nobody learned from it. If you remove all the fun and adventure the drama bits lose all their impact and your left with only dark brooding that only an angry masochist could enjoy. Gives me little hope for LotR.
Love your very spot on description of the characters in this WoT compared to the books. However, I think times have changed and people are now more likely to embrace “dark and brooding” than 10 or 20 years ago. (conspiracy theories anyone?) So, the show may continue to thrive.
Knowing why Amazon is waiting until next fall for LotR would be helpful, I think. I don’t see why the first season of LotR wouldn’t be ready soon.
TVLINE | So, no drop-off from viewership of the premiere to Episode 3? People are sticking around?
The metrics that were released by Nielsen, obviously those were just for the first three episodes, but we are seeing not only incredible retention but in some metrics we are seeing incredible growth.
A few things about this… it took the first few episodes before fans of the series realized how unfaithful this show was to the book and realized that this garbage would only continue in further episodes.
The response avoids answering the question. No drop off? Well we see that… (excuse) (escuse).
As for the comment about incredible retention, I can see given how many people are continuing to watch the show and comment about it online. This also brings me to the next point, in some metrics we are seeing incredible growth… those being???
For anyone who hasn’t watched the show but loved the books, a quick heads up. The showrunner is quite open about being a feminist and is gay, and has no moral qualms about subverting males in support of females, and pushing his agenda in this show and the writing. This is fan fiction on a grand scale and while some may enjoy that, as a fan of the books, this is just deplorable.
Another book reader that just can’t be happy. Now review every other fantasy adaptation. Book fans, much as yourself, were up in arms when the LotR movies came out too. That turned out to be kind of a successful project. Also, did you not read the books? It’s a world run by women… You do realize Jordan’s wife is a consulting producer for the show and she loves it? That Brandon Sanderson, the author that finished the WoT, really enjoys the new takes on the series. Yes, some changes were a bit jarring but I get them for a visual medium adaptation. Overall, it’s the same story only a different route was taken. The overall story arcs are still the same. It’ll be ok though, the story will still be told.
The show is CW level trash. If you like it fine. Most book readers were hoping for a level of quality like seen in most HBO shows. We didnt get it. What we got is hot garbage and changes that hurt.
I have to hear disagree. Every book reader expected changes, it’s impossible to adapt what is a 30hr long audiobook into an 8 episode show without making significant changes. The issue book readers have with this is they are making changes that serve no purpose other than changing the story. And on your point about it being the same story just told differently I would disagree as well. They are the same events, yes, but a story is significantly more than just the events that occur, it’s about the characters and the feelings as well and the show has horribly mistranslated all of that. In my opinion the only successful thing the show has done is casting, it’s a complete butchering of the story.
I was wrong… It’s $465 million for the first season 😳. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, and Amazon themselves.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/amazons-lord-of-the-rings-cost-465-million-one-season-4167791/
Wheel of time is a hot mess of a show. Clearly the people making it were under pressure to keep momentum going through constant plot advancement. In doing that, they negated all character development and glossed over the main plot in a way almost criminal. The show is really terrible. You need more time for the lord of the rings show? Take 2 years. Hell, take 5. As long as you avoid creating another completely useless mess that can’t be rewatched, I’m OK with waiting.
Rafe came from a show that did 22 episodes a season, no excuses. Show is trash because its run by people with no talent.
You know they listed the viewing in minutes as part of a marketing campaign. When you convert it to the hours metrics like the other services, you will see it was only 19.3 million hours for those 3 episodes.
Still sounds good at face value until you compare it to the Witcher Season 2, in 3 days had over 140 million hours.
So really it’s not performing as wel as the 1.16 billion minutes is trying to make you believe. And Amazon averages less than 2 season for original content.
Hard to precisely compare at this stage, most honestly. The Witcher’s “140 million hours” is based on all eight episodes of Season 2 being available, and is reported by Netflix. The Wheel of Time’s “1.6 billion minutes” (how Nielsen chooses to report) was based on only the first three episodes thus far, measured by Nielsen.
.
Boiling it down some….
Witcher had 140 million hours viewed over 8 episodes.
WOT had 27 million hours viewed over 3 episodes.
.
In a make-believe scenario where everyone viewing watched all available episodes and only all available episodes, Witcher in its first three days had 17.5 million full-season bingers vs. the 9 million who binged WOT’s first three episodes.
.
The Witcher (coming off a hugely successful first season) is definitely far ahead, but we should have a half of a half of a half of a better comp once its Season 2 shows up on Nielsen charts in a few weeks!
Then for easy math divide with her by 3 and it still more than doubles the 19.3 million hours for the first 3 WOT. Even the first season reported more hours viewed in the same timeframe than WOT. The minutes reported equal 19.3 not 26 million as it was 1.16 billion is what was originally reported. So again it was clever marketing and to try to make it look better to potential viewers. Just like their banner saying it was the most streamed show and then in smaller letters they say Amazon Prime
Current reviews on Amazon have it at a 3.5 which is worse than Sharknado.
So yea had high hopes for it, but so far it’s not delivering, and considering Amazon averages less than 2 seasons for Original content, it won’t last til the end