“Love Story” Becomes FX’s Most Watched Limited Series On Streaming
Ryan Murphy’s latest limited drama series, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette“, is another smash hit for Disney, as it’s been revealed that the show has become FX’s most-watched limited series ever on streaming, pulling in more than 25M hours viewed across the first five episodes on Disney+ and Hulu.
Not only has the premiere been popular, but the show has also grown its audience, with the latest fifth episode pulling in 51% more viewers than the initial episode. This series is also doing well on social media, with lots of interest on TikTok, as searches for JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy grew by over 9100% in the last month.
It should be noted that Disney hasn’t revealed how many viewers that breaks down to, as Disney has a tendency to reveal data differently for each show, making a direct comparison with other recent releases harder to judge.
This is the first instalment in Ryan Murphy’s “Love Story” anthology, similar to how “American Crime Story” and “American Sports Story” work. The limited series is inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
It was a love story that captured the attention of the nation: John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) was the closest thing to American royalty. The country watched him grow from a boy to a beloved bachelor and media sensation. Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) was a star in her own right. Fiercely independent and with a singular style, she rose from being a sales assistant to an executive at Calvin Klein, and became a trusted confidante of its eponymous founder. John and Carolyn’s connection was immediate, electric and undeniable. As their love story unfolded on a national stage, the intense fame and media attention that came along with it threatened to rip them apart.
Featuring Grace Gummer (Caroline Kennedy), Naomi Watts (Jackie Kennedy Onassis), Alessandro Nivola (Calvin Klein), Leila George (Kelly Klein), Sydney Lemmon (Lauren Bessette) and Constance Zimmer (Ann Marie Messina), Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette charts the complex and heartbreaking journey of a couple whose private love became a national obsession.
FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” is created by Connor Hines and executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Connor Hines, Eric Kovtun, Nissa Diederich, Scott Robertson, Monica Levinson, Kim Rosenstock, D.V. DeVincentis and Tanase Popa. Max Winkler executive-produced and directed the pilot episode. It is produced by 20th Television.
New episodes of “Love Story” are released on Thursday night on FX, Hulu and Hulu On Disney+ in the United States and on Disney+ internationally.
Roger’s Take: I’m not surprised to see “Love Story” is so popular, as its a very traditional drama series about a well known American icon and I’ve also been enjoying catching up on new episodes, (though I’ve personally perferred Ryan Murphy’s other new FX show, “The Beauty”!). I do wonder if many of those additional TikTok searches are from younger audiences wanting to know more about JFK Jr and Carolyn. I know I did a quick “Google” search after watching the first couple of episodes to learn more about who they were.
While these viewing figures are a good indication of the show’s success, it’ll be more telling when the Nielsen ratings are revealed, since that will give a true viewership number, since it doesn’t include linear or international viewing. It would be great if Disney released viewership data more freely, as it’s easy to fluff up stats to look good if we are only provided with that one bit of data and can’t compare to other shows.
Did you check out “Love Story”? Let me know on social media!
