Oscars: ABC Streaming App Surges Into the App Store’s Top 3

The ABC streaming app rocketed up the Apple App Store’s top charts thanks to this weekend’s presentation of the 95th Academy Awards.

Indeed, on Monday morning, the iOS version of ABC: Stream TV Series & Sports reached number three in the United States, briefly surpassing TikTok, YouTube, SHEIN, and, well, just about everyone else. Check it out:

With many viewers tuning in to watch the Oscars, the app provided a convenient way for fans to stream the event live and catch up on any missed moments.

So, with this in mind, we took a look at how the iOS and Android versions of the app have performed overall. Here’s what we found (click the links to jump to the relevant sections):

ABC Is Approaching 500,000 Total Downloads in 2023
Nevertheless, ABC Is Falling Back to Earth in US Top Charts
Final Thoughts: Live Television Is Good For App Downloads

ABC Is Approaching 500,000 Total Downloads in 2023

The chart above depicts daily global downloads for both the iOS (blue) and Android (green) versions of the ABC app in 2023, year to date.

In total, the app has been downloaded 465,427 times since January 1st, including 164,787 times on Android and 300,640 times on iOS.

However, a massive chunk of these downloads came in the run-up and aftermath of the 2023 Academy Awards, which aired Sunday, March 12th. In the three days since then, ABC has been downloaded a whopping 43,066 times. This includes 5,278 Android downloads and 37,788 iOS downloads. See here:

Nevertheless, ABC Is Falling Back to Earth in US Top Charts

Still, despite the recent Oscar-related success of the ABC streaming app, it’s falling back to earth a bit.

The chart above shows daily rankings for the iOS (blue) and Android (green) versions of the app. In particular, this chart shows category-specific rankings (as opposed to overall rankings) in the United States.

While both versions of the app had quick ascents in the top charts (reaching as high as third in the United States App Store), neither is currently ranked within the top 200.

Final Thoughts: Live Television Is Good For App Downloads

ABC had a good weekend; and with nearly 500,000 downloads through the first two months of 2023, it’s certainly starting the year off on the right foot. Still, it’s a good deal behind fellow network streamers like NBC’s Peacock (5,191,997 downloads in 2023) and CBS’s Paramount+ (9,603,822 downloads in 2023).

What’s more, with college basketball’s March Madness just around the corner, Paramount+, Disney+, ESPN+, and other streamers are likely to get major boosts in the near future. Indeed, apps like ESPN Tournament Challenge and CBS Sports App: Scores & News have already shot up US top charts, rising 122 and 128 spots, respectively, overnight: