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Pop Culture to Olympics: Since the Olympic Opening Ceremony was only on August 5 (and this chart runs through August 6), the 2016 Summer Olympics only hit #2. It is very likely to top the chart next week. Olympic-related articles make up eight of the top 25. In the meantime, pop culture predominated the top of the chart, with the film Suicide Squad hitting #1, the new Harry Potter play at #3, and Netflix hit Stranger Things at #4.
In other, more technical news, the data in this week's report comes solely from TopViews. The data feed used to generate the WP:5000 since its creation has been deprecated by the WMF. For the time being, it will be slightly more cumbersome to make this chart, as we no longer have an easy source listing the rating class of each article and the mobile-desktop view percentages, though this information is still available to us.
As prepared by Milowent, for the week of July 31 to August 6, 2016, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from Topviews Analysis were:
Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Suicide Squad (film) | ![]() |
2,889,015 | ![]() |
DC Comics' ramshackle crew of press-ganged supervillains, forced to do the will of a shadowy organization or let their heads explode, are the stars of one of the most anticipated films in the nascent DC Cinematic Universe, which was released on August 5 to generally negative reviews. Nonetheless, it grossed $267 worldwide in its opening weekend. Star Margot Robbie also landed the #7 spot this week, two characters in the film, Robbie's Harley Quinn, and Enchantress, also make the Top 25. |
2 | 2016 Summer Olympics | ![]() |
1,421,144 | ![]() |
Up from #15 last week as the games finally got underway. Opening rounds in some events began on August 3, and the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony (#22) was held on August 5. This Olympics will have over 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (which includes all 193 members of the United Nations and additional special entities), competing in 28 sports. Two new sports this time include rugby sevens and golf. Golf is actually a returning sport, last featured in the 1904 games. Sadly, my favorite sport from the 1904, the plunge for distance, will not be returning. Michael Phelps (#9) is not quite that old, but he's back too. |
3 | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | ![]() |
1,381,205 | ![]() |
It seems like ever since J.K. Rowling published the last Harry Potter book in 2007 and vowed that the series was over, magical forces have eaten away at that pledge. And the biggest step away from that promise, if not a complete retreat, is the mounting of a London play which sets Harry twenty years in the future. The play script was released in book form on July 31, and bookstores tried to recreate the fervor of the prior book releases. And no doubt it will sell a ton of copies, but based on reviews, it does tarnish the legend a bit. |
4 | Stranger Things (TV series) | ![]() |
1,200,720 | ![]() |
90,000 views more than last week. This Netflix science-fiction series is basically an 8-hour homage to early 80s kid-centric flicks like E.T., The Goonies and Explorers, though aimed mostly at adults. I binge-watched the whole thing in a few days and found it very enjoyable. But its appeal to millions who were not alive in the early 1980s is fascinating. The movies which inspired the series have lived on to a much greater extent than movies even ten years older. A parent can show a kid E.T. in 1996, 2006, or 2016, and the kid is still going to laugh and cry at the same parts. So Stranger Things taps into a nostalgia that is not limited to 1983, but one that is part of a common experience of youth, at least in America. Also, since I'm already pontificating, let me note that setting the series in 1983 is very helpful in dealing with the troublesome issue of cellphones. It has been noted that mobile phones "must be one of the worst things ever to happen to horror movies", but in 1983, when a kid left the house, no one knew where the hell they were. No one can pull up Google Maps or post Instagram photos of monsters. Today, if the Yeti isn't on twitter, he does not exist. |
5 | Donald Trump | ![]() |
806,195 | ![]() |
Donald Trump likely said something controversial during this week, this is just a guess. |
6 | Harry Potter | ![]() |
785,355 | ![]() |
See #3. Interestingly, a Harry Potter product has never appeared on the Top 25 before this week. The last film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, was released in July 2011, 18 months before the report began. Reviewing stats.grok.se data, for the week of July 17-23, 2011, that film had 891,856 views (non-mobile only), which was likely enough to be #1 for the week at that time, or close to it. |
7 | Margot Robbie | ![]() |
636,032 | ![]() |
Starring in #1. |
8 | List of Steven Universe episodes | ![]() |
610,304 | Up from #19 and 480K views last week. It's not often that kids' cartoons get on this list; My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic hasn't managed it in 5 years. But then, Steven Universe isn't exactly a kids' cartoon. In fact I'm not entirely sure I can explain what it is, but if you can imagine a magical girl anime remade in English with a gender-swapped lead, you can get some idea. The show has in the past been notorious for its patchy release schedule, and, as if in contrition, Cartoon Network are releasing new episodes of the show every day during the so-called "Summer of Steven". This has necessitated much checking of release times, hence the list's appearance here. | |
9 | Michael Phelps | ![]() |
608,707 | ![]() |
The most decorated Olympian of all time has returned for the 2016 Summer Olympics (#2). If you are in America, there is no way the television coverage misses a moment of anything Michael Phelps does. In fact, I understand that there are sports where America does not predominate in the Olympics, but that rarely makes it to American television. I went and looked at the medal table, and see, for example, that Kazakhstan has won 7 medals so far. This includes three in judo and three in weightlifting, which I assume may be covered somewhere on American television, but certainly nothing they've promoted. I bet weightlifting and judo are all over television in Kazakhstan. |
10 | Deaths in 2016 | ![]() |
604,639 | ![]() |
The views for the annual list of deaths are remarkably consistent on a day-to-day basis. It is consistently higher in the first half of 2016 with a string of highly notable deaths, but things seem to be calming down a bit. |
11 | List of Olympic Games host cities | ![]() |
584,192 | ![]() |
A great compendium of information you can review while waiting between races of #9, or judo matches if you're in Kazakhstan. |
12 | Harley Quinn | ![]() |
576,445 | ![]() |
The character in #1 portrayed by Margot Robbie (#7). |
13 | Jason Bourne (film) | ![]() |
536,217 | ![]() |
Slightly up from 474K views last week. Matt Damon returns to his signature franchise under his chosen director, Paul Greengrass to middling reviews and a solid $60 million opening. |
14 | Olympic Games | ![]() |
503,119 | ![]() |
See #2. |
15 | Redbad, King of the Frisians | ![]() |
481,525 | ![]() |
Reddit learned "that Redbad, the last pagan King of Frisia (northern Netherlands), refused to convert to Christianity because he 'preferred spending eternity in Hell with his pagan ancestors than in Heaven with his enemies.' " |
16 | 2024 Summer Olympics | ![]() |
480,564 | ![]() |
The host for the games to be held eight years from now is not due to be announced until September 2017. Its been in the news a bit in America due to speculation that the election of Donald Trump might hurt the Los Angeles bid for the games. The 2020 games are farther down the list at #25. The farthest out Olympics for which we current have an article is the 2028 Summer Olympics. There have been attempts to create future distant Olympic articles in the past (up to 2100!), though they get deleted, see, e.g., Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2032 Summer Olympics (4th nomination) (August 2015), Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2040 Summer Olympics (August 2006); Wikipedia:Redirects_for_discussion/Log/2015_October_18#2060_Summer_Olympics (October 2015, deleting redirects going through the 2100 games). |
17 | Kabali (film) | ![]() |
464,612 | ![]() |
Down from #2 and 1.1M views last week. This Indian film (not Bollywood- it's in Tamil; Bollywood films are strictly Hindi) starring Rajinikanth (pictured) has, despite mixed reviews, smashed records in its first week of release, earning ₹3.2 billion ($48 million) worldwide. It the already the second highest-grossing Tamil film ever. |
18 | Pokémon Go | ![]() |
451,096 | ![]() |
The pop-culture phenomenon of the year, it appears. |
19 | Bourne (film series) | ![]() |
450,928 | ![]() |
See #13. |
20 | Enchantress (DC Comics) | ![]() |
424,955 | ![]() |
The character in #1 portrayed by Cara Delevingne (#27). |
21 | 2016 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations | ![]() |
422,929 | ![]() |
The parade that opens #2 during #22. This list is primarily for including the order of countries in the parade, and their flagbearer. Greek sailor Sofia Bekatorou was the first flagbearer of the parade. |
22 | 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony | ![]() |
419,669 | ![]() |
See #2 and #21. |
23 | Goods and Services Tax Bill | ![]() |
414,228 | ![]() |
This landmark value-added tax was passed by the Indian parliament on August 3. It will replace the existing confusion of local taxes in India with a single tax. It is still a ways off from implementation, as at least half of India's 29 states have to approve the measure as well. |
24 | Antoninus Pius | ![]() |
414,228 | ![]() |
Reddit learned that he "had the most peaceful reign of any ruler in antiquity. There is no record of any major events or conflicts during his 23 year reign. He was a skilled administrator and was praised by his contemporaries for his effective style of governance." This got over 6500 upvotes by Reddit. |
25 | 2020 Summer Olympics | ![]() |
409,044 | ![]() |
The next summer Olympics will be in Tokyo in 2020. Interestingly, this article has existed since 2005, when it survived a deleted discussion. Eleven years later, the article is completely different, and continues to document the approach toward the next summer games. |
Just missing the Top 25: #26 Jared Leto (403,581); #27 Cara Delevingne (400,481); #28 Love You Forever (393,783, reddit); #29 Killing of Harambe (392,970, odd internet meme); #30 Fahrenheit 451 (386,372)