Andor Season 2's Weird Release Schedule Made The Star Wars Show A Hit, And Here's The Data To Prove It

The revolution officially starts now — the streaming revolution, that is. "Andor" season 2 can't be considered anything less than a triumphant success for "Star Wars" as a whole. Creator Tony Gilroy's wild experiment to bring the franchise kicking and screaming into the world of grown-up politics paid off in spades, making the Empire appear as frightening as ever and the antifascist Rebel Alliance as relevant as they've ever been since George Lucas' original 1977 film. That much feels undeniable on the creative aspect of things, at least. But what about the business side of the equation? Much has been written about the exorbitant costs involved in bringing "Andor" to life and, well, Lucasfilm hasn't exactly had the smoothest time of it lately when it comes to getting audiences fully invested in its various Disney+ shows. To say that the deck was stacked against this series from the very start would be an understatement.

Against all odds, however, "Andor" season 2 proved the wisdom behind its incredibly unusual release strategy ... and we finally have the numbers to back it up. More than a few eyebrows were raised when we found out Disney would be opting for as odd a streaming approach as we've ever seen. Rather than either releasing an episode at a time on a weekly basis (like season 1) or dropping the entire season at once, Netflix-style, the studio found a weird middle ground: debut three episodes at a time every week until the finale. As I wrote in my review for /Film, this turned out to be an inspired choice in terms of the storytelling. Now, we know that this was the right decision to appeal to viewers (and shareholders), too.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, those all-important Nielsen ratings from the middle of May 2025 (when "Andor" debuted its final three episodes) back up the show's word-of-mouth success. Not only did the "Star Wars" series land at the very top spot of the rankings for the week of May 12 through May 18, beating out rivals such as "The Last of Us" and "You" and the unstoppable juggernaut known as "Bluey," but the viewership numbers also increased from week to week. Oh, and in a fascinating quirk, the fans apparently spread the love around to "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" as well. Let's break it all down below.

Take note, Hollywood, because this is what happens when you simply let Tony Gilroy cook. "Andor" has come a long way since those reports way back during season 1, indicating audiences weren't quite as taken with the "Star Wars" series as Lucasfilm likely expected despite such critical acclaim. No matter how you slice it, though, this chapter of the "Star Wars" saga will go down in the history books as a complete and total win ... despite the mind-boggling resources poured into the overall production. But, as always, the numbers tell several nuanced stories at once.

Let's quickly get the caveats out of the way. The Nielsen ratings have always played an outsized role in determining the success or failure of a given television series, but it's worth noting that this system doesn't track every single viewer ever. The company's information is limited to those living in the United States, for one thing. For another, the numbers only account for folks who watch a given show on a physical television set. To anyone watching "Andor" on their laptops or phones, Nielsen kindly sends their regards but nothing more. And, of course, the actual numbers we're dealing with are fairly nebulous and vague. For instance, as a whole, "Andor" season 2 racked up 931 million minutes watched. What the heck does that really mean to Average Joe and Jane on the street? That's a little tougher to quantify.

With all that said, however, numbers are still numbers and data is still data. By every available metric, "Andor" season 2 performed above and beyond what Disney/Lucasfilm needed it to do. It's clear that, despite concerns that releasing episodes in weekly batches would force audiences to play a game of perpetual catch up, this only helped the series gain more and more steam as it barreled towards its heartbreaking conclusion. And speaking of which, you know what else ended up hitting Nielsen's top 10 that week? "Rogue One," which fans quickly reembraced as the perfect epilogue to the end of Cassian Andor's arc.

Where "Star Wars" goes from here is anyone's guess, but the math backs up what we already knew — "Andor" was the shot in the arm the franchise desperately needed.