I started a new thread here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.398198-Zero-Punctuation-Performance-Report-28k-warning#16278932
But here are all the resources. I was intending to expand a bit on the other shows I mentioned, but I am a bit tired at the moment.
Tie to link ZP and the escapist. Look at the search terms.
Graph with notable peaks:
List with averages:
Main body from post:
The data collected shows a dramatic climb from ZP's debut in August 2007, followed by a leveling off in early 2009. The show maintained a plateau until 2011. The last major peak over 800 was the Monster Hunter Tri episode which aired on 26 May 2010. Viewer ship for latter 2010 saw a drop, where video posts began to drop below 200. As 2011 progressed, post count fell by ~35.27% from the previous year. By the end of 2012, the average post count fell again by another ~40%. The latter 2012 saw a mild resurgence with a single outlier peak of 523 on 28th November, 2012 with the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 episode. It should be noted that this episode contained the "entitlement fiasco". At 145, the post count average is the lowest it has ever been.
Although ZP is still very popular compared to other Escapist projects, Jimquisition and Moviebob have been steadily gaining ground*, though both lack the massive popularity that ZP enjoyed 2007-2010 which ultimately boosted the popularity and standing of The Escapist. ZP is still suffering a decline, which is entering its third year. It is unlikely that ZP will suffer further losses, though it is unlikely to regain any of its former glory any time soon.
*As these shows rose in popularity, ZP suffered losses.
Personally, while I do not think that ZP is dead, I personally thing that the series has suffered a bit of stagnation and abandoned some of the things that made it funny. The original videos lacked emotion and were incredibly dry in their humor. The tone has shifted from that dry tone to lots of shouting and smarm. The loss of the custom music, though unavoidable, made the series more generic. I also feel that ZP is following a very strict formula that made the series somewhat more bland. ZP has a history of touching tangents such as Webcomics and demos and it does not seem to do that anymore. I realize that there is likely a time limit and a weekly episode schedule is tight for creative work, but ZP seems to be lacking the tang it once had.
