Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2019-05-31/Traffic report

Traffic report

Dark marvels, thrones, a vile serial killer biopic, that's entertainment!

By Igordebraga, A lad insane and Stormy clouds

This traffic report is adapted from the Top 25 Report, prepared with commentary by Igordebraga (April 28 to May 4, May 12 to 18), A lad insane and Stormy clouds (May 5 to 11).

The Report is dark and full of Marvels (April 28 to May 4, 2019)

Top 25 most viewed articles of the week

Avengers: Endgame is understandably still dominating the public consciousness (and for those who haven't seen it, there are possibly some spoilers below, countering some fake ones from last Report), along with Game of Thrones, which is back for its last season. Who back in 1999 would've predicted a world so fixated on superhero movies and fantasy TV shows? There only a few subjects here not related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the HBO series: a deceased director and the dramatization of a crime story.

For the week of April 28 to May 4, 2019, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Views	About
1	Avengers: Endgame	7,096,505	Marvel Studios has built such a foothold with fans that they don't complain about enduring a 3 hour film. A time travel story that ends with an all-out epic battle for the fate of the universe, Endgame might not be perfect, but gives plenty of comedy, emotion and action along with a good closure on what was built in 11 years and 21 movies. And who knows what comes next? Seriously, aside from Spider-Man: Far From Home this July, two movies are set for 2020, but they don't even have Wikipedia pages yet. One might be the Black Widow solo film set to start shooting in June, though whoever saw Endgame will wonder what will appear in that.
2	List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films	2,405,799
3	List of highest-grossing films	2,322,787	After a single weekend, Endgame (#1) already entered the top 10 on this list with a whopping $1.3 billion! So movie fans will certainly start sort of a "can Endgame beat Avatar?" watch. It's a tall but feasible order, even once the movie slows down with May's other big releases.
4	Game of Thrones (season 8)	1,921,398	This writer was one of a huge crowd that tuned in to watch "The Long Night" on HBO and was frustrated at how it was a dark, foggy and mostly incomprehensible mess (a rerun with my mom, and the TV pre-emptively adjusted to 100% brightness, had no problems, so who knows what happened with the original broadcast?), though with a great last third that made going through the confusion worth it, leading to a climax that like our #1, had a victorious Stark.
5	Ted Bundy	1,784,380	Netflix already released a documentary featuring this serial killer being interviewed earlier in the year, so the streaming service now offering a movie where Bundy is played by Zac Efron should come as no surprise.
6	Game of Thrones	1,351,359	It's now halfway through the closing season of HBO's adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire (#4), following an episode that had millions attempting to see what had been lauded as the biggest battle ever filmed for television.
7	John Singleton	1,216,251	At just 23, John Singleton started his career at the top with Boyz in the Hood, a surprise hit that also made Singleton both the first African American nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, and also the youngest ever to run for this award. While his following path was a bit questionable, aside from highlights such as the Shaft remake, Singleton still had enough success to warrant a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and received many tributes after his death at the age of 51.
8	Robert Downey Jr.	1,213,867	Back in 2008, Downey guaranteed a career resurrection out of both portraying a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude (which got him an Oscar nomination), and starring in some independent startup's movie as a drunk businessman who survives a terrorist attack. Iron Man upstarted the ongoing superhero dominance (#2, #3), and Downey's Tony Stark is central to the plot of Endgame (#1), all about fixing the actions of...
9	Thanos	1,003,523	..the purple bastard that guaranteed people left Avengers: Infinity War feeling bummed. But his actor Josh Brolin might not be saying his goodbye to Marvel, on the condition that they let him play Cable again in spite of the X-Men movies folding onto the MCU (#10).
10	Marvel Cinematic Universe	886,314	Kevin Feige has been pretty busy since 2007. Thankfully, the end result (#2) is a license to print money (#3).

Expectations (Not Particularly) Subverted (May 5 to 11, 2019)

This week's report, as with the past few, is utterly dominated by the entertainment industry, which should hardly be surprising given the two gargantuan hits currently conquering the zeitgeist on screens big and small. Other entries include a vile serial killer and his biopic, an extremely exuberant and exclusive gala, and the latest member of House Windsor. Not an especially diverse iteration of the report, admittedly, but still an intriguing one.

For the week of May 5 to 11, 2019, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Views	About
1	Avengers: Endgame	4,400,303	Because Marvel fans just can't get enough of their favorite superheroes at the cinema, they have resorted to stalking Wikipedia, either to find out the current box office gross or, if they're like me, to read the plot so they don't have to actually watch it to understand the memes. They've also infiltrated several other articles featured on this list, seemingly competing with Game of Thrones for most related articles. None of them can compete with the British royal family though, setting the record at fifteen last year. (Though Marvel got close once.)
2	Ted Bundy	4,321,338	One of the most infamous and heinous criminals of 20th century America, Ted Bundy has long captivated and caught the public attention courtesy of his charming charismatic demeanour, and the sheer horror of his crimes. As testament to this, with another week in excess of 4 million views, he is a likely lock for the year-end report some four decades after his incarceration, and three after his execution. He is the subject of #18, which thankfully does not end with Samuel L. Jackson telling him about the Unabomber and a team he's assembling.
3	List of highest-grossing films	3,735,837	Expect this list to retain its prominent position on future iterations of the report, as Earth's Mightiest Heroes chase down the phenomenal record set by Dances with Pandorans. At time of writing, the Russo brothers need in the environs of another $300 million in ticket receipts to become the first directors to steal James Cameron's throne since James Cameron, and it is shaping up to be a very tight race indeed, as Captain America et al will have to compete with a dog-loving assassin, everyone's favourite poorly CGI rendered YouTuber, and a blue flame-breathing lizard (not that one) in weeks to come.
4	Chernobyl disaster	1,487,216	Wikipedia is not immune to the driving forces of Reddit, and this entry shows that with a passion. This post on r/todayilearned inspired thousands of readers to flock to this article, as it perhaps in turn may have been inspired by the anniversary of the disaster a couple weeks ago. It may also be due to the HBO miniseries Chernobyl, which aired its first episode on May 6.
5	Game of Thrones (season 8)	1,448,829	The other fandom featuring heavily on this list hasn't made it as high in terms of rank, but with three entries overall and one in the top 5, they've certainly done a respectable job. In a year of finales, this one has fewer episodes than its predecessors, yet the incredible screen-writing and payoffs still evidently captivate a plethora of viewers, sending scores to its article.
6	List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films	1,330,540	See #1 and the rest of this tangled Marvel mess.
7	Met Gala	1,119,365	The annual fashion extravaganza took place in the Big Apple during the week, providing a reprieve for those not interested in superheroes or subversion of expectations. A glorious opportunity for grand larceny, the Gala is organized annually by Vogue, and this year the jewel of the New York social scene was themed around camp (#21). Notable guests at the event included Katy Perry, who dressed up as a chandelier (yeah, I don't get it either), and someone who used to be relevant on YouTube.
8	Game of Thrones	990,337	This will probably be on the list for a while.
9	Meghan, Duchess of Sussex	987,526	Last May, the wedding bells rang for Meghan and Prince Harry (#11), sending droves of royal-family watchers to their articles. This year, their marriage has borne fruit, with the announcement of a new royal youngling. Archie Mountbatten-Windsor (#25) is seventh in line to the throne- that may seem distant, but hey, it's closer to the throne than I'll ever be.
10	Cinco de Mayo	842,868	The Mexican victory against the French Empire at the 1862 Battle of Puebla was a great morale-booster for the soldiers and civilians, so although they ended up losing the war, the Mexicans made it a holiday. 120 years later, some American companies decided that a Mexican holiday would be great to drum up some beer sales, and so they did. Now the holiday is celebrated more in the United States than Mexico, with staples of the celebration including beer and guacamole. The beer didn't stop thousands of people from searching up on Wikipedia why exactly they were celebrating, though, bringing it in at the bottom of the top 10 on this list.

End Over End, I'm Reporting (May 12 to 18, 2019)

The most prevalent topics of the week are about ends: the conclusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Saga (#1, #4), the last season of Game of Thrones (#3, #7), and people leaving the mortal realm (#2) - on that, there's also a killer (#5) and a tragedy (#6) that ended lives, and an actor (#10) whose views owe to him slaughtering people on screen. There's also a YouTuber seeing his reputation threatened to end (#9), and musicians for all over Europe ending up in the continental contest (#8).

Stop me so I can begin. For the week of May 12 to 18, 2019, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Views	About
1	Avengers: Endgame	2,684,351	Our readers don't seem to get tired of reading about the conclusion of Marvel's first batch of movies (with Spider-Man: Far From Home being an epilogue), as the ultimate confrontation with Thanos remains atop the report for the fourth week.
2	Doris Day	2,052,866	Doris Day was a successful singer when she also scored big in the movies - most notably romantic comedies with Rock Hudson, one of whom gave her an Oscar nod; though the Hitchcock classic The Man Who Knew Too Much deserves mention for contributing one of her best known songs, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)". After sitcom The Doris Day Show ended in 1973, she retired from the public eye, focusing more on animal welfare activism with the Doris Day Animal Foundation and the Doris Day Animal League. Day died of a pneumonia at the age of 97.
3	Game of Thrones (season 8)	1,975,784	(spoilers ahead!) "Take a look to the sky, just before you die It's the last time you will!" After all, the penultimate episode had death coming from above once someone decided "I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives!" For Whom The Bells Toll? They tolled for everyone. Such circumstances displeased many critics and viewers, making expectations dip a lot for the series finale.
4	List of highest-grossing films	1,930,929	Our #1 is second on this, less than $200 million behind Avatar, showing that once viewers are enthralled by superhero movies for a decade (says something all four Avengers are in the top 10!), they'll come to theaters in enough quantity to beat the once unbelievable sum of $2.7 billion dollars. And who knows if the ever-delayed Avatar 2 (now sharing a parent company with The Avengers) makes even a fraction of that it comes out in 2021? A theme park might not be enough to compensate over a decade away!
5	Ted Bundy	1,706,092	The serial killer featured in two Netflix releases, a documentary and a movie, continues to bring readers to learn about his grotesque life exploits.
6	Chernobyl disaster	1,695,638	HBO is currently airing Chernobyl, a miniseries based on the worst nuclear meltdown ever.
7	Game of Thrones	1,222,041	Following the footsteps of Lost, a show that breaks formulas, gathers a massive following, and then by the final season has lots of people complaining.
8	Eurovision Song Contest 2019	951,999	Europe's yearly musical extravaganza, held in defending champion Israel and won by the Dutch submission "Arcade", whose performer Duncan Laurence is seen to the left.
9	James Charles (Internet personality)^[1]	929,723	Well, here's some YouTube drama: Charles, who has a successful make-up channel, was accused by collaborator Tati Westbrook of being a manipulative jerk, lost millions of subscribers, and had his attempt at an apology video earning a spot in the ten most disliked videos ever (once music videos are excluded, it's fourth behind angry Call of Duty fans, PewDiePie asking his viewers to downvote profusely, and last year's underwhelming YT Rewind).
10	Keanu Reeves	905,571	Once he feared his grave would just read "He was Ted". Well, now Ted is only one of the three best-known characters Keanu has played, alongside Neo and John Wick, who just returned to theaters (#12) and beat our #1 to top the box office, making this hilarious Tweet true.

^ 535,309 from the old name, James Charles (model)

Exclusions

These lists exclude the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the Top 25 Report talk page if you wish.

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