In the so-called “streaming wars” it is rare for two similar series to be released at similar times on separate platforms. It is even rarer if one of those two is Netflix and the other streamer - in this case HBO Max - is the one who comes out on top.
Earlier this year HBO Max released the 15-episode series The Pitt in a weekly cadence from 1/9/25-4/10/25. This gritty scripted series set in an emergency room in Pittsburgh is very reminiscent of NBC’s ER, but with fewer relationships and more medical procedures, which is likely because it was supposed to be ER. As is well-documented now, Warner Brothers and the Michael Crichton estate tried to reboot ER for HBO Max but ultimately could not come to terms which led to an ongoing lawsuit in which the the estate claims that The Pitt is essentially ER.
The Pitt is a big winner for Warner’s streaming service with 4.5M viewers across the first 28 days (i.e. 4 weeks) of each episode according to data from Luminate. It is the top HBO Max exclusive original to-date (excludes HBO linear series that are simulcast), above And Just Like That S2 (4.1M) and Peacemaker (3.7M).
Most impressively The Pitt grew during its run which is highly unusual for any TV series, linear or streaming. The chart below depicts 28 days of viewing for each episode of The Pitt and its growth in almost every week from week 3 - week 14 is clearly visible.
This type of trajectory can only be driven by organic word of mouth - it cannot be bought with marketing - which The Pitt earned through compelling storytelling, solid performances, gritty & realistic medical procedures, and Noah Wyle as the lead.
Source: Luminate
The organic growth is backed up by the audience and critic feedback as proven by its 94% Rotten Tomatoes score and the following snapshot of the show’s reviews that appears on the RT website.
All of these achievements have led to The Pitt being renewed for a second season with an unusually short turn-around time especially for a show with 15-16 episodes as it will return in January 2026.
On the other hand Netflix’s Pulse, which never had one, dropped on April 3 as a batch. People did sample the show as indicated by the 9M views for episode one in the first 28 days, but levels quickly fell off from there, with the final episode -54% vs. the first.
Source: Luminate
You might be thinking at this point that even at 4M, Pulse’s performance looks similar to The Pitt so why am I calling it the loser here. Well that’s the answer - a show on Netflix should be significantly higher than a similar program on any other platform given its tremendous advantage in subscriber base. But as this next chart reveals, Pulse is not a particularly strong show among Netflix originals this year and The Pitt is only slightly behind it despite the size of Pulse’s first few episodes.
Simply put Pulse is an also-ran, forgettable streaming series while The Pitt is a breakout success.
Source: Luminate
Why did The Pitt outshine and overshadow Pulse? In this case it comes down to show quality - as tough as that is to be objective about - which is not always a driver of longevity in TV. For example: According to Jim was on ABC for 8 seasons while My-So Called Life only lasted on year.
I tried watching Pulse for the purpose of this article and I could not make it past 30 minutes due to cliched dialogue, convoluted storytelling and tepid acting. I could see that the show was designed to attract Grey’s Anatomy fans.
The weekly cadence of The Pitt also gave a chance for word to mouth build over its very long run by streaming standards. Pulse dropped with a thud as a batch so potential viewers were given only one chance to discover the show before their attention moved on to the next Netflix drop - such as Black Mirror one week later.
The long term implication is that the “Broadcast” style nature of The Pitt with its roots in one of network TV’s biggest hits all of time, starring one of that show’s leads and a 15-episode order will likely reinforce that this is a strategy for HBO Max moving forward which could then be adopted by other streamers. This means streaming could come full circle and embrace the style of dramatic storytelling that ruled the 3-network world from 1960-2018 until streaming emphasized serialization.