Samba TV & Peacemaker | What’s All The Hub Bub?
In today’s streaming landscape, viewership numbers can be hard to interpret. What actually counts as a “view”? Who measures it? And why do some shows trend while others don’t, even when many people are watching? That’s where Samba TV comes in — a company frequently referenced by studios, journalists, and fans when discussing streaming performance.
Here’s a straightforward look at how Samba TV collects its data and what those numbers really mean for Peacemaker Season 2.
How Samba TV Measures Streaming Viewership
Samba TV uses what’s called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology built directly into millions of smart TVs.
When someone watches a show or movie on their television… whether through a built in app, Roku, Fire TV, Smart Box, game console, or even a computer plugged in via HDMI… Samba can detect and register that content.
So here’s why that matters
A “view” is counted when a household watches at least 5 minutes of a program on their TV screen.
Samba TV measures households, not individuals. If three people are watching together in the living room, that still counts as one household.
The panel is opt in and weighted to match U.S. Census demographics, allowing Samba to estimate national household trends.
Mobile and laptop viewing isn’t fully included unless it’s cast or mirrored to the TV, so their numbers don’t represent total audience just the portion watching on television screens.
So while Samba TV provides a solid snapshot of how many U.S. households are tuning in on TVs, which is useful for comparison across shows.
It’s not the whole picture.
However, it is a valuable and reliable barometer.
(source - samnba.tv)
Peacemaker Season 2 by the Numbers
The Season 2 finale of Peacemaker was reportedly viewed in 435,000 U.S. households during its first four days of streaming, according to Samba TV.
Comparing to other shows, that’s a respectable figure, especially given how competitive and fragmented the streaming market is in 2025.
Let’s dig a little further though.
The Season 2 premiere brought in roughly 712,000 households, a significant 22% jump from Season 1’s finale (584,000 households).
However, as of writing this Samba hasn’t released numbers for episodes 2–7, but looking at premiere vs. finale makes it clear viewership dipped over time. which is actually common for streaming series.
Viewership drops during a streaming season are very common. Most shows peak with their premiere thanks to hype and marketing, then settle into a smaller but loyal core audience as casual viewers drop off or choose to binge later. This dip isn’t a sign of failure… it’s just a normal pattern in streaming, where what matters most is retention, engagement, and total audience over time, not just episode by episode numbers. Speculation is that Peacemaker followed that pattern closely.
How It Stacks Up Against Other Shows
When you look at similar comic book and genre series, Peacemaker’s numbers hold their ground:
The Penguin: 3.2 million households (massive outlier)
Gen V (Season 2 premiere): 429,000 households
The Mandalorian (Season 3): 722,000 premiere / 662,000 finale (day-of)
Daredevil: Born Again: Did not chart on Nielsen despite heavy brand recognition
Peacemaker’s finale number (435k) lands right around Gen V territory and well within the healthy mid tier range of streaming comic book shows. It’s not a breakout Penguin level smash, but when you have SMASH hit’s like that you can’t expect that to be its lane.
Why Not Charting on Nielsen Isn’t a Death Sentence
Some of the audience had noticed that Peacemaker didn’t make it onto the Nielsen Streaming Top 10 during its run. And while that can sound a bit alarming… it really isn’t.
Nielsen’s chart is based on total minutes viewed on TV sets only, not household reach.
It favors library shows, kids’ series, and big movie drops that dominate sheer viewing time.
Weekly releases with shorter episode lengths can be easily crowded out, even when performing well. (Remember many of Peacemaker’s episodes were 30ish minutes)
Daredevil: Born Again also failed to chart despite being one of the most talked about Marvel shows of the year.
Even Emmy darling The Studio from Apple TV, which is just as raunchy and comedic never cracked the Niesen Top Ten before or after it’s huge Award’s night.
The Bigger Picture
When not trying to find reasons to cancel the DCU and paint James Gunn as some EVIL Studio head you will actually see that Peacemaker Season 2’s numbers look solid and sustainable through it’s run.
Strong premiere ➝ respectable finale
Comparable to other well performing genre series
Nielsen absence explained by methodology, not failure
Niche R rated humor that doesn’t need blockbuster numbers to thrive
In an era where only a handful of shows break out into the million plus household tier, Peacemaker has carved out a steady, loyal audience… and that’s often exactly what a platform wants from its mid tier hits.
435,000 households in four days is not a flop. It’s a healthy number for a character driven, R-rated comic book show in today’s streaming market.
Let’s not act like Context doesn’t matter
And in context, Peacemaker Season 2 did just fine.
