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‘The Sopranos’ Was Still One of 2017’s Most-Binged TV Shows, Even 10 Years After It Ended

"Game of Thrones" led Xfinity's ranker of the most-viewed on-demand shows of 2017, but there are plenty of surprises and regional quirks — apparently the West loves "Rick and Morty" a whole lot more than the East.
No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage.Mandatory Credit: Photo by HBO/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5886200bk)Michael Imperioli, James Gandolfini, Tony Sirico, Steve Van ZandtThe Sopranos - 1999HboUSATelevisionOpera
"The Sopranos"
HBO/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
Bestof2017

Bada-bing! The O.G. peak TV series, “The Sopranos,” is still being discovered and re-discovered by TV viewers. Even in an age where there are plenty of new TV shows to binge on, Comcast Xfinity’s 2017 ranker of the most-viewed shows on demand revealed that new audiences are constantly diving into “The Sopranos.”

According to Xfinity, “The Sopranos” is still performing particularly well in its Northeast region, where the show was in the top 20 in 5 markets. Most notably, Philadelphia (No. 6), Boston (No. 10), and Pittsburgh (No. 12) are still catching up with Tony and crew. That’s all the more impressive considering “The Sopranos” finale ran on HBO in 2007 — ten years ago.

HBO’s “The Wire” is also benefitting from on-demand viewing, particularly in its hometown setting of Baltimore (naturally), where it came in at No. 18.

“With something like ‘The Sopranos,’ you’ve got a show off the air for over a decade, and if you go to a book analogy, these are like classic books that people have not read, so they’re still discovering them,” said Steve Meyer, vice president of video strategy and analysis, Comcast Cable. “Even when these shows have been out for a long time, they’re still attracting new audiences who haven’t seen the show.”

“Game of Thrones” tops the list for that very reason, as new viewers are consistently jumping in and starting from the beginning. That’s the same with other premium cable shows including “Shameless,” “Power,” “Outlander,” and “Big Little Lies.”

“Game of Thrones” was the No. 1 on-demand show in 2017 among viewers in every region that Comcast is in (it was No. 1 in 2016 as well). “This Is Us” was No. 2 in most of those regions as well.

There were plenty of variants throughout the country however, especially in the South, where shows like OWN’s “The Have and the Have Nots” and “Greenleaf,” and ABC’s “Scandal” all made the top 20 list. Soaps still creeped on the list in a few places: “General Hospital” in Michigan, and “The Young and The Restless” in the South.

Then there’s the apparent West Coast/East Coast divide on Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty.” It’s a top 10 show in Denver, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle, but didn’t make the lists in Philadelphia, the South and Florida.

Among other trends in 2017, Meyer noted that this was the first year that Xfinity’s X1 added access to Netflix (and later in the year, YouTube) to its service. That led to a giant leap in usage: “Last year 4 billion total hours of programming was consumed on X1 and mobile apps,” Meyer said. “This year it was 5 billion — a billion more. A huge chunk of that is due to the introduction of these streaming services.”

Top 20 On-Demand Series of 2017 (National)

1. Game of Thrones (HBO)
2. This Is Us (NBC)
3. The Simpsons (FXX, Fox)
4. The Big Bang Theory (CBS, TBS)
5. Shameless (Showtime)
6. Power (Starz)
7. Family Guy (Fox, Adult Swim, TBS)
8. Outlander (Starz)
9. Homeland (Showtime)
10. Chrisley Knows Best (USA)
11. Rick and Morty (Adult Swim)
12. Designated Survivor (ABC)
13. Teen Mom 2 (MTV)
14. Empire (Fox)
15. Big Little Lies (HBO)
16. The Walking Dead (AMC)
17. The Mick (Fox)
18. The Sopranos (HBO)
19. Law & Order: SVU (NBC, USA)
20. Bob’s Burgers (Fox, Adult Swim, TBS)

Emilia Clarke, "Game of Thrones"
Emilia Clarke, “Game of Thrones”HBO

PITTSBURGH REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 Shameless
4 The Big Bang Theory
5 The Simpsons
6 Family Guy
7 Chrisley Knows Best
8 Outlander
9 Teen Mom 2
10 Designated Survivor
11 Homeland
12 The Sopranos
13 The Walking Dead
14 The Young and the Restless
15 Rick and Morty
16 NCIS
17 Law & Order: SVU
18 America’s Got Talent
19 Impractical Jokers
20 The Mick

BOSTON REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 Shameless
4 The Simpsons
5 Homeland
6 Ray Donovan
7 Outlander
8 Family Guy
9 The Big Bang Theory
10 The Sopranos
11 Big Little Lies
12 Billions
13 Designated Survivor
14 Curb Your Enthusiasm
15 Power
16 Rick and Morty
17 Law & Order: SVU
18 Saturday Night Live
19 Girls
20 Teen Mom 2

THIS IS US -- "What Now?" Episode 117 -- Pictured: (l-r) Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Milo Ventimiglia as Jack -- (Photo by: Justin Lubin/NBC)
“This Is Us”Justin Lubin/NBC

PHILADELPHIA REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 Power
4 Shameless
5 Homeland
6 The Sopranos
7 The Big Bang Theory 8 The Simpsons
9 Family Guy
10 Outlander
11 Curb Your Enthusiasm
12 Designated Survivor
13 General Hospital
14 Billions
15 Ray Donovan
16 Big Little Lies
17 Empire
18 Chrisley Knows Best
19 Law & Order: SVU
20 The Mick

CHICAGO REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 The Simpsons
4 Shameless
5 Power
6 Family Guy
7 The Big Bang Theory
8 Chrisley Knows Best
9 Homeland
10 The Sopranos
11 Empire
12 Rick and Morty
13 Teen Mom 2
14 Outlander
15 Chicago PD
16 Designated Survivor
17 Law & Order: SVU
18 General Hospital
19 Big Little Lies
20 The Mick

"The Wire"
“The Wire”HBO

BELTWAY (BALTIMORE, WASHINGTON DC)

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 Power
4 The Simpsons
5 Shameless
6 Empire
7 Chrisley Knows Best
8 The Big Bang Theory
9 Homeland
10 Family Guy
11 Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
12 Star
13 Outlander
14 Law & Order: SVU
15 Designated Survivor
16 The Walking Dead
17 Teen Mom 2
18 The Wire
19 The Mick
20 Rick and Morty

SOUTH REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 Power
4 Chrisley Knows Best
5 Empire
6 Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
7 The Simpsons
8 The Big Bang Theory
9 Family Guy
10 Star
11 Outlander
12 The Haves and the Have Nots
13 Greenleaf
14 Designated Survivor
15 The Walking Dead
16 Scandal
17 The Young and the Restless
18 Teen Mom 2
19 Law & Order: SVU
20 The Voice

Starz drama Power
Omari Hardwick in “Power”Starz Entertainment

HOUSTON REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 The Simpsons
4 Power
5 Chrisley Knows Best
6 Empire
7 The Big Bang Theory
8 Family Guy
9 Shameless
10 Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
11 Rick and Morty
12 Star
13 Outlander
14 Teen Mom 2
15 Homeland
16 Ballers
17 Bob’s Burgers
18 The Walking Dead
19 America’s Got Talent
20 Vikings

FLORIDA REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 Power
4 The Big Bang Theory
5 The Simpsons
6 Designated Survivor
7 Homeland
8 Chrisley Knows Best
9 Outlander
10 Empire
11 Family Guy
12 The Walking Dead
13 Shameless
14 The Voice
15 America’s Got Talent
16 Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
17 Billions
18 Big Little Lies
19 The Good Doctor
20 Law & Order: SVU

The Mick Kaitlin Olson Jack Stanton
“The Mick”Fox

MICHIGAN REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 The Simpsons
4 The Big Bang Theory
5 Power
6 Family Guy
7 Shameless
8 Chrisley Knows Best
9 Outlander
10 Teen Mom 2
11 Empire
12 General Hospital
13 The Walking Dead
14 Designated Survivor
15 Rick and Morty
16 The Mick
17 America’s Got Talent
18 The Voice
19 Law & Order: SVU
20 The Good Doctor

TWIN CITIES (MINNEAPOLIS, ST. PAUL) REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 The Simpsons
4 Shameless
5 The Big Bang Theory
6 Family Guy
7 Homeland
8 Outlander
9 Rick and Morty
10 The Mick
11 Power
12 Big Little Lies
13 Chrisley Knows Best
14 Designated Survivor
15 The Voice
16 Teen Mom 2
17 Bob’s Burgers
18 The Sopranos
19 America’s Got Talent
20 Girls

THE SIMPSONS: Homer wants a promotion at the nuclear plant and asks Marge to help him dress the part in the all-new “Trust But Clarify” episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Oct. 23 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
“The Simpsons”Fox

DENVER REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 The Simpsons
3 This Is Us
4 The Big Bang Theory
5 Rick and Morty
6 Shameless
7 Outlander
8 Family Guy
9 Homeland
10 Bob’s Burgers
11 Teen Mom 2
12 Chrisley Knows Best
13 The Mick
14 Big Little Lies
15 America’s Got Talent
16 The Voice
17 Vikings
18 Ghost Adventures
19 The Walking Dead
20 Designated Survivor

PORTLAND REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 The Simpsons
4 The Big Bang Theory
5 Outlander
6 Rick and Morty
7 Shameless
8 Family Guy
9 The Mick
10 Homeland
11 Bob’s Burgers
12 Big Little Lies
13 The Voice
14 Saturday Night Live
15 Vikings
16 Teen Mom 2
17 Designated Survivor
18 America’s Got Talent
19 Girls
20 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Rick and Morty Season 3 Episode 10 The Rickchurian Mortydate VR
“Rick and Morty”Adult Swim/Screenshot

SEATTLE REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 The Simpsons
4 The Big Bang Theory
5 Outlander
6 Rick and Morty
7 The Mick
8 Family Guy
9 Shameless
10 The Voice
11 Homeland
12 Designated Survivor
13 America’s Got Talent
14 Vikings
15 Bob’s Burgers
16 Saturday Night Live
17 Teen Mom 2
18 Big Little Lies
19 The Walking Dead
20 Chrisley Knows Best

CALIFORNIA REGION

1 Game of Thrones
2 This Is Us
3 The Simpsons
4 The Big Bang Theory
5 Outlander
6 Homeland
7 Rick and Morty
8 Family Guy
9 Big Little Lies
10 Power
11 Shameless
12 Teen Mom 2
13 Bob’s Burgers
14 The Mick
15 Saturday Night Live
16 Silicon Valley
17 The Voice
18 Chrisley Knows Best
19 Designated Survivor
20 The Walking Dead

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