Despite launching only a few weeks ago, Masters of the Air is already Apple TV Plus’ biggest show ever and it’s not even close.
As reported by Variety, Masters of the Air received more viewers in the opening weekend than any other show on Apple TV Plus has received in their entire first season. This places it above hits like Ted Lasso, Slow Horses, Severance, Invasion, and Hijack. Also in that report, it was revealed that “viewership across all of Apple TV Plus climbed by 65% worldwide when compared to the previous seven-day period”. This means Masters of the Air isn’t just doing well, it is also making Apple TV Plus do better as a result, which might help shine a light on some of the shows it has surpassed in viewer figures.
Critical reception ended up very strong with it currently sitting at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and 73 on Metacritic. The former score signifies overwhelming praise, with the latter suggesting generally favorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, Masters of the Air also has a generally favorable audience score, sitting at 68%.
What is Masters of the Air?
Masters of the Air is a miniseries set to be nine parts long when it finishes airing, telling the story of an American bomber group in World War II. Opening in 1943, it tells the lives of the men in that squad through their bombing runs above Germany and time in the latter half of World War II. It is likened to Band of Brothers, a 2001 miniseries set in World War II that was also produced by Steven Spielberg, Gary Goetzman, and Tom Hanks. As well as working with many of the same producers, this comparison to Band of Brothers is partially related to the very intimate way Masters of the Air captures the lives and relationships between the main cast.
Masters of the Air is set to finish airing on March 15 and, if early reviews and viewer figures are anything to go by, it may just be one of the best shows on Apple TV Plus.
