Citadel Is Prime Video's Second Most Popular Series Ever ... According To Prime Video
Even before the first two episodes of "Citadel" debuted on Prime Video, the series made headlines for breaking Hollywood records. A troublesome production process pit executive producers Joe and Anthony Russo (of "Avengers: Endgame" fame) against creators Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec ("Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol"). When Amazon sided with the Marvel directors, it led to the exit of Appelbaum, Nemec, and director Brian Kirk ("21 Bridges"), which meant costly reshoots were set to follow. And when I say costly, I'm under-exaggerating: "Citadel" ended up with a record budget of $300 million for its six 40-minute episodes. That comes out to a whopping $1.25 million per minute!
Does that jaw-dropping price tag correlate to a quality spy thriller? It depends on who you ask. /Film's review dubs the series a "Bourne ripoff with no identity," pointing to underdeveloped ideas and a lackluster romance. But according to Prime Video, not everyone feels the same.
Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke shared an Instagram post about the series, captioned: "'Citadel,' the #1 title on Prime! In its series debut, this show attracted one of the largest global audiences in the history of Prime Video."
Collider's sources have since confirmed that the series has the second-largest launch numbers in Prime Video history, trailing just behind "The Rings of Power" (which also holds the #1 title of the most expensive show ever made). But as has become the unfortunate norm with streaming TV, these numbers are entirely based on Prime Video's internal metrics — the specific details of which have not been revealed. And since we have no idea what numbers, conditions, or exceptions account for the "second largest launch in Prime Video history," it's best to take these numbers with a grain of salt.
Streaming transparency is a crucial WGA demand
Are people actually hyped about "Citadel," the Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas-led spy series, or is Prime Video just drumming up buzz with a vague proclamation? We honestly don't know.
Among the many reasons that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is currently on strike is streaming transparency. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — which includes Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount, and Sony — rejected the WGA proposals, which focused on securing better work and pay conditions for writers in the midst of this streaming-centric era. One of the methods proposed was to "establish a viewership-based residual — in addition to existing fixed residual — to reward programs with greater viewership."
In other words, if a series like "Citadel" is really doing massive numbers for Prime Video, it makes sense that the writers who made that possible should see some of that money — especially when it comes to a series with a ridiculous $300 million budget. But pulling that off would require the streamers to be much more transparent about program views.
Though streamers like Prime Video and Netflix occasionally offer updates according to their own internal metrics, it's hard to actually understand how well a streaming series is doing with subscribers. Netflix may boast the impressive streaming numbers of "Wednesday" by telling us that it was viewed over one billion total hours in its first month, but that doesn't tell us how many viewers that includes, how many people completed season one, how many of those hours were rewatches or any other specifics. And for less popular series, we learn even less about their stats. Transparency would go a long way in clearing these questions up — and getting people paid the wages that they deserve.