After premiering on Dec. 22, “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” became Peacock‘s first original project to make it onto Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings.
According to data provided to NBCU by Nielsen and exclusively obtained by PvNew, “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” is ranked in the No. 5 position in an early version of Nielsen’s Top 10 Streaming Originals chart for the Dec. 19-25 viewing period, during which it was available for four days. (Exact information about minutes watched during this period is not yet available.)
As such, this also marks the young NBCU-owned streamer’s biggest ever series debut. That title was previously held by “Bel-Air,” Peacock’s dramatic reimagining of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Peacock has previously appeared on the Nielsen’s overall streaming rankings, but only with acquired episodes of the Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” and the Universal Pictures movie “Halloween Ends.” Additionally, the Universal film “Nope” put Peacock on Nielsen’s streaming movies chart when it debuted on the platform months after running in theaters.
Nielsen also puts “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” as the No. 1 streaming series for Black audiences over the last two weeks. Combined with the previous record set by “Bel-Air,” viewership data seems to suggest that Peacock’s biggest successes have come not only from Black content, but from Black content that plays on nostalgia — similarly to “Bel-Air,” “The Final Chapters” follows up on the 1999 romance film “The Best Man” as well as the 2013 sequel “The Best Man Holiday.”
“The Best Man: The Final Chapters” catches up with characters from the films as relationships evolve and past grievances resurface in the unpredictable stages of midlife crisis meets midlife renaissance. Morris Chestnut, Melissa De Sousa, Taye Diggs, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long and Harold Perrineau star. The series was written by Malcolm D. Lee of Blackmaled Productions and Dayna Lynne North of Loud Sis Productions, who also served as executive producers alongside Blackmaled’s Dominique Telson and Hivemind’s Sean Daniel. Lee directed four episodes.
