Xfinity Watchathon Week, which kicked off on April 6, is the ultimate current season TV binge event of the season, where Xfinity TV customers can spend an entire week catching-up on everything from Game of Thrones to Empire on Xfinity On Demand. We’ve spent more than a decade building Xfinity On Demand into the ultimate destination for customers to catch up and stay current on their favorite TV shows while also discovering new ones. With nearly 3 billion hours viewed each year—of which 60% is dominated by broadcast, cable and premium TV series—Xfinity On Demand is giving programmers the ability to stack every episode of the current season and attract new audience, resulting in ratings lift and ultimately extending the life of a series throughout its run.

As more and more shows find their audience on platforms like Xfinity On Demand, the time-shifted views both inside and outside of Nielsen’s three-day ratings window are changing the game. FOX’s breakout hit Empire is a great example of how Xfinity On Demand allowed millions of viewers to join in, catch-up and stay current on the most buzzed about show of the year.

Comcast Viewing Growth

While Empire drew an impressive audience for it’s premiere on January 7, scoring a 5.3 L3 rating among adults 18-49 and drawing 13.1 million viewers nationally, the series was particularly popular among Xfinity TV customers. While a record-breaking one million viewed the show on Xfinity On Demand alone in the first week, the L3 rating in Comcast households for adults 18-49 was a 6.65. In fact, Empire continued to break viewing records on Xfinity platforms, topping the Xfinity On Demand Top 20 list week after week.
 

Comcast Households

Because every episode of Empire was available on Xfinity On Demand throughout the season, Xfinity TV customers who heard their friends and colleagues talk about the show were able to go back and join in from the beginning. In fact, the premiere episode of the series was viewed more than 3.5 million times on Xfinity On Demand. In total, Empire episodes were viewed nearly 23 million times on Xfinity On Demand, averaging 54 minutes per view.

By season’s end, Empire’s national L3 audience for the finale grew to nearly 22 million viewers, and an 8.4 rating among adults 18-49. In Comcast households, the season finale drew nearly one million views on Xfinity On Demand within the first three days, another consumption record shattered by the freshman series, and the L3 ratings for adults 18-49 reached 10.88.

Time-shifted viewing and full current season banking on demand has become instrumental in the success of new shows like Empire. As the volume of high-quality programming continues to grow, platforms like Xfinity On Demand will become even more important as audiences look for reliable and predictable platforms to seamlessly discover, sample, catch-up and stay current on all new and returning shows throughout the current season.