Off Campus

Amazon

Off Campus is not just a hit, it’s a nearly record-setting hit for Amazon, now revealed as one of its biggest original series ever made, alongside productions with multiples of its budget.

Amazon itself has reported that Off Campus hit 36 million viewers in its first 12 days of release. That’s behind only the likes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s debut and Fallout season 1. And that puts it ahead of The Boys, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Reacher and other big Amazon series. At least based on those first 12 days.

The full-on broken record by Off Campus here is that it is the biggest debut for the much-coveted 18-34 demographic in Amazon history, beating out The Summer I Turned Pretty (which just aired its final season). That makes sense when you realize that quite obviously, big fans of Lord of the Rings and Fallout are going to skew older than a college romantic drama.

As for what this means for the future of Off Campus? Only good things. Season 2 of Off Campus was greenlit before season 1 even aired, and it may be here around a year later without big blockbuster filming and post-production demands. It’s also obvious that Amazon will love this level of viewership for a show that costs a mere fraction of something like Rings of Power, one of the most expensive series ever made (as of today, there’s news that it may in fact get a season 4 after the soon-to-air season 3).

The source material is there for many, many seasons of the show, with five main books and a number of sub-stories that can be adapted. The show follows a Bridgerton-like format, focusing on different members of the cast and their various relationship pursuits, as we saw with Hannah and Garrett in season 1. Next up appears to be Allie and Dean for season 2.

As for comparisons to say, Netflix’s Bridgerton, that was a series that was watched by 82 million households after four weeks, compared to 36 million for Off Campus in 12 days. So no, Off Campus may not hit that mark, but with Bridgerton not reaching those marks anymore and what is likely to be a second season that increases in viewership for Off Campus, anything is possible. And of course Netflix reachers far more households than Amazon. At Amazon, Rings of Power reportedly lost about half its audience between seasons, getting 55 million global viewers after it ended its week-to-week run.

You are going to be seeing this show as an Amazon staple for years; that much is clear by these eye-popping figures. And given how good it is, that’s great to hear.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.