How HBO keeps 'The White Lotus' on our minds — and screens

In the property of binge-watching, HBO’s deed bid “The White Lotus” is demonstrating the powerfulness of play assignment viewing.

Most viewers streamed the darkly comic anthology bid from Mike White, acceptable each play astatine a caller luxury edifice wherever the worst instincts of the privileged guests are unleashed. But the play rollout of the latest eight-episode play connected Sundays — the nighttime that HBO established arsenic the gathering constituent for prestige tv successful the pre-Netflix epoch — is turbocharging the show’s taste interaction and viewing levels.

Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” which premiered successful February, averaged 19 cardinal viewers crossed accepted TV and streaming platforms, according to Max (soon to beryllium known again arsenic HBO Max). About one-fifth of that audience, 4 million, watched connected HBO due the nighttime the episodes aired.

HBO saw the assemblage for the amusement turn each week, with the finale drafting 6.2 cardinal viewers connected April 6 — 51% higher than the Season 2 finale and much than doubly the viewership for the bid premiere. Such boosts implicit a azygous play are rare, according to Jason Butler, elder vice president of planetary contented and strategy for HBO and Max.

The maturation indicates that viewers felt compelled to ticker sooner alternatively than aboriginal successful bid to enactment successful the nationalist sermon astir the show.

“There’s this truly symbiotic narration betwixt recurring play viewership and burgeoning buzz, arsenic you would expect,” Butler told The Times.

Butler added that Max is seeing the aforesaid signifier for its Emmy-winning drama “Hacks” and its high-octane aesculapian play “The Pitt,” which are besides rolled retired weekly. He noted that Max’s biggest shows, specified arsenic “The White Lotus,” are driving 50% much societal media conversations during the people of a play compared with bid that driblet each of their episodes astatine erstwhile for binge-viewing.

It helps that “The White Lotus” offers up signature moments and catchphrases that are meme-worthy.

This season, Parker Posey’s Southern vino ma Victoria Ratliff did the dense lifting (“Piper, nooo!”), generating astir 28,000 videos connected TikTok. HBO has seen the improvement successful erstwhile seasons with, “What are you doing? Texting” and Jennifer Coolidge’s legendary line, “These gays, they’re trying to execution me,” which tin beryllium recovered connected a assortment of T-shirts and shot hats sold connected Etsy.

HBO besides efficaciously flooded the portion with stories successful the days betwixt episodes, with Monday greeting recaps and video interviews successful the Hollywood trades, having the formed members dissect their characters. The Los Angeles Times turned retired astir 20 pieces portion the New York Times served up 10 stories connected Season 3.

Tabloid websites latched connected arsenic well. “The White Lotus” prima Aimee Lou Wood’s antagonistic absorption to the “Saturday Night Live” parody of the bid became a clickbait-driven saga for a week.

Max sees plentifulness of binge-watching aft the last occurrence runs too. Viewing of erstwhile seasons of “The White Lotus” surged by 15 times erstwhile the 3rd variation launched. (HBO has already ordered a 4th season.) Nielsen information showed viewers streamed the full bid much betwixt 800 and 900 cardinal minutes a week during the third-season run.

Max doesn’t merchandise information linking a bid to subscriber growth. But during the archetypal 4th of 2025, the direct-to-consumer streaming work added 5.3 cardinal customers.

The sustained speech astir “The White Lotus” has besides driven user behaviour successful question and fashion.

At the caller Warner Bros. Discovery presumption to advertisers successful New York, the company’s advertisement income main Robert Voltaggio noted however the amusement generated a important boost successful tourism to Maui, Sicily and Thailand, the locales featured successful the series’ archetypal 3 seasons, respectively. Website visits to the Four Seasons locations wherever the amusement is acceptable saw triple-digit maturation arsenic well.

And of course, determination is Victoria Ratliff’s caftan.

“The income for that manner marque spiked by astir 7 times,” Voltaggio said.

No connection connected immoderate spike successful Lorazepam prescriptions.