Every month, with Visible Measures as our partner, we're going to round up the top web TV series that are making their mark with online audiences. Video data is based on total online views for a series in its entirety (ie. not just a single episode) over the course of a month, and we're limiting our analysis to fictional, reality, or character-driven online shows that produce episodic content, which means vloggers and news-oriented online series aren't included in the monthly top 10 chart.
The August data is in, and without further ado we'd like to present you with the top 10 web series that have amassed the most views for the month. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
The chart, Powered by Visible Measures[img src="http://sale-online.click/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/visible-measures-logo.png" caption="" credit="" alt="visible measures logo"]
August 2009
Current Month's Rank
Series
Studio
Genre
Current Month Views
Sample Episode
1
Fred
-
Comedy
23,700,034
[img src="/wp-content/themes/v5/img/visible-measures/08-09/1.png" caption="" credit="" alt="fred image"]In real life, Fred Figglehorn is Lucas Cruikshank, but the star's alter ego has made the tween, who plays a 6 year-old in the series, the first video star to attract a million subscribers on YouTube, one of the most searched terms by kids on the web, and even secured him a guest appearance as his character on Nickelodeon's iCarly back in February.
We're not exactly Fred fans, but it's pretty hard to argue with the 16 year-old's massive internet pull and fan base. If the August stats are any indication, Fred's young fans just may be the web's most influential video viewers.
Smosh in Solid Second
August's second place challenger, with 5 million more views than the next closest competitor, is Smosh. The made-for-web series is touting almost 12 million views — 11,872,722 to be exact — for all webisodes viewed during the month of August. That puts them in second place behind the one-man-sitcom, but still completely slaughtering the rest of the top 10, which includes The Guild in the number 4 spot with 6.6 million views, and Married on MySpace in fifth place with just 2.7 million views.
The Smosh guys owe most of their success to their 1 million plus subscriber base on YouTube, and content that resonates with fans. Case in point, their most recent output, Bigfoot is Gay [embedded in the chart above]. Although surely not everyone's cup of tea, The Smosh duo put out regular new comedic content geared towards young males, and they seem to have found a winning formula.
The Gamers' Duel
Duking it out for third place is Red vs. Blue (RvB) and The Guild. Interesting enough, both shows cater to a gamer audience and have die-hard, extremely dedicated fan bases. RvB is made for the HALO fanatics, while The Guild appeals to WoW addicts.
According to the data, The Guild's August success was primarily driven by the viral nature of the show's Do You Want to Date My Avatar? music video. Their creativity in creating an extension of the series, and their decision to debut the music video to the core of their fan following at Comic-Con in San Diego, seems to have paid off nicely in terms of online video views for the show in its totality.
Horrible Mention
Also quite remarkable is that Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog secured the number 8 spot. Despite the fact that the web musical starring Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day hasn't produced a new episode in over a year, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog accrued 686,851 views in August. We find it quite refreshing that an online web series can produce content that continues to attract and amass fans long after its original air date.
A Healthy Mix
All in all, August’s top performers offer a mixed collection of comedy, reality, animation and drama. We’re anxious to see how September and the post-summer, back-to-school audience attitudes influence the heavy traffic hitters in next month’s report. In the meantime, check out the rest of the top performing web shows embedded in the chart. What's your take on the top 10 most watched web TV shows for August? Share your thoughts on the state of web TV with us in the comments.