Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2024-11-06/Traffic report

Traffic report

Twisted tricks or tempting treats?

By Igordebraga, Vestrian24Bio, Shuipzv3, Rahcmander, Bucket of sulfuric acid, CAWylie

This traffic report is adapted from the Top 25 Report, prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, Vestrian24Bio, Rahcmander, Bucket of sulfuric acid, CAWylie and Shuipzv3.

Welcome to the final show, hope you're wearing your best clothes (October 5 to 12)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Ratan Tata	5,034,616	Ratan Tata, a Parsi Indian industrialist, philanthropist and former chairman of the conglomerate founded by #10 died in early October, at the age of 86 due to age-related issues.
2	Lyle and Erik Menendez	2,686,453	Down from the top spot after three weeks are the murderous brothers serving life sentences for killing their parents, chronicled in the Netflix show Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
3	Tata family	1,656,736	The prestigious family of #1, including his half-brother (#5) and his great-grandfather (#10).
4	Joker: Folie à Deux	1,517,588	Does the description "jukebox musical psychological thriller" seem appealing to you? It certainly wasn't for a large portion of the audience, specially those who liked Joker and just wanted something more straightforward with the Clown Prince of Crime and his lover Harley Quinn, in contrast to director Todd Phillips repeating the "very different and very bad sequel" path that resulted in The Hangover Part III. Thus the box office intakes fell sharply in the second week, dropping to third behind two movies that delivered what was expected (a gorefest also starring a villainous clown, and a very engaging animation), and the worldwide totals of $156 million so far - which is less than the first one made in a single weekend! - makes the prospects of recovering a massive $200 million budget quite slim. At least the DC Comics faithful have been given a better product on streaming with The Penguin, and it's hard to believe next year's Superman will fail as hard as Folie à Deux.
5	Noel Tata	1,198,976	The half-brother of #1, and his successor as chairman of the Tata Trust.
6	Hurricane Milton	1,005,478	Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction across the southeastern US, Milton threatened to do the same again. Highly favorable conditions in the Gulf of Mexico such as very warm sea surface temperatures led to its extremely rapid intensification into a Category 5 hurricane, the fifth-most intense recorded in the Atlantic. Thankfully, it downgraded into a weaker but still powerful Category 3 just before it impacted the west coast of Florida, in which six million residents were ordered to evacuate. Milton caused at least 28 deaths across Mexico and the US, and its damage is estimated to be at least USD$30 billion, making it among the top 10 costliest Atlantic hurricanes to affect the US.
7	George Baldock	931,894	This English-born footballer who used his Greek descent to play for the Hellenes was found dead at just 31 in his pool, just one day before both his son's first birthday and an England-Greece game in Wembley for the UEFA Nations League. The match had both a tribute to him and the Greeks pulling off an upset win, with Vangelis Pavlidis taking out a shirt with Baldock's face to dedicate the victory to him.
8	Deaths in 2024	927,208	Yesterday I got so old I felt like I could die...
9	Sean Combs	830,145	As everyone discusses all the debauchery and alleged crimes committed by this currently incarcerated rapper, Judge Arun Subramanian set the start date of Diddy's trial to May 5.
10	Jamshedji Tata	785,225	#1's great-grandfather who founded the companies that make the family famous today. Founded in 1868, the Tata Group, a conglomerate of companies like Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Air India, is present in over 100 countries and worth US$403 billion.

You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky (October 13 to 19)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Liam Payne	7,904,304	"It seems to me that when I die These words will be written on my stone." British singer Liam Payne might've not had the greatest solo career after the end of #4 in 2016, but it sadly became a short one when he died at the age of 31 falling from a third-floor balcony in an Argentinian hotel, and it's yet to be determined whether it was an accident or a suicide. Payne was technically a one-hit wonder with "Strip That Down" and had only one studio album to his name, cheekily named LP1, and it's unclear how much of the second album he announced last year had been recorded. Many tributes emerged.
2	Cheryl (singer)	2,011,202	From 2016 to 2018, #1 dated this singer who like him was part of a group formed in a reality show, with whom he had a son. Cheryl issued a public request for consideration and dignity, fearing their child could potentially access "the abhorrent reports and media exploitation" regarding Payne's death.
3	Lyle and Erik Menendez	1,800,441	People who watch the Netflix show Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story continue to seek more on the brothers currently serving life sentences for killing their parents.
4	One Direction	1,757,832	In 2010, #1 had just had his second unsuccessful audition to The X Factor when guest judge Nicole Scherzinger suggested he and four other candidates get together to compete as a band. The result not only finished third in the season but spearheaded the boy band revival of the 2010s, selling millions of albums and filling up stadiums before being reduced to a quartet with the departure of Zayn Malik in 2015, followed by an indefinite hiatus in 2016 so all members could pursue solo careers. The most successful so far has been Harry Styles, while #1 was in Argentina partly to see in concert bandmate Niall Horan. (as for the fifth, Louis Tomlinson only charted well with his first two singles, and his Wikipedia article was targeted by some pageview shenanigans for two years)
5	Baba Siddique	1,747,594	Indian politician Baba Siddique was assassinated by being shot by three assailants in Mumbai, allegedly under orders of Lawrence Bishnoi, a gangster who in spite of being imprisoned since 2015 commands criminal activities from behind bars.
6	Lawrence Bishnoi	1,560,755
7	Yahya Sinwar	1,239,034	As the war in Gaza completed one year, the leader of Hamas was killed in a firefight with IDF soldiers on October 16.
8	Deaths in 2024	1,029,961	All these places had their moments With lovers and friends, I still can recall Some are dead, and some are living In My Life, I've loved them all
9	Terrifier 3	917,431	The third installment in the Terrifier franchise of slasher films, delving into Christmas horror as Art the Clown attacks the Yuletide shoppers in ways so bloody the movie was released unrated, was released worldwide last week to positive reviews from critics and has grossed $35 million so far against a budget of $2 million, becoming the highest-grossing film of the franchise and one of the most profitable of the year.
10	Rodney Alcala	859,974	In 1978, this guy won a date on television by appearing on The Dating Game, only to be rejected by the lady who found him "creepy". She dodged a bullet, as Alcala had already murdered 3 women and would kill at least five more before his arrest one year later, leading to decades waiting for capital punishment until Alcala died in prison in 2021. The story was told by Anna Kendrick in her directorial debut Woman of the Hour, with Daniel Zovatto as Alcala and Kendrick herself as the would-be date Cheryl Bradshaw, which was added to the Netflix catalogue.

I've never killed a woman before, now I know how it feels (October 20 to 26)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Rodney Alcala	2,490,646	In 1979, this reprehensible man who already spent some time in prison (and downright entered the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives) for child molestation, was arrested in California for the murder and abuse of a minor, and sentenced to death. During the investigation he was connected to at least seven more deaths, most with related sexual assault, and was found to have been a contestant in a TV show a year prior, earning the nickname "The Dating Game Killer" - Alcala won a date, but the woman rejected going out with him afterwards, unknowingly saving her life. Alcala spent decades imprisoned waiting for his execution only to die of natural causes in 2021. As with many serial killers, him topping this Report owes to a movie on Netflix, Woman of the Hour (#5), where Alcala is played by Daniel Zovatto.
2	Lyle and Erik Menendez	1,468,336	More murderers on Netflix, albeit with only two victims, their parents, to take advantage of the inheritance before the police caught on. Their show has been out for a month yet loads of viewers still check this page for more info, as well as October news of their possible resentencing in December, which, if approved, would make the brothers available for parole and possibly released due to "time served".
3	Liam Payne	1,269,238	The shocking death of the former One Direction member at just 31, who fell off a balcony in a Buenos Aires hotel, is still being felt. Police is still determining if it was a suicide or an accident, stating several medications and energy supplements were found in his room, along with a whiskey bottle, and that the emergency medical team that witnessed Payne's death had arrived after the hotel's manager called reporting on an "aggressive man" who was thrashing his room.
4	Venom: The Last Dance	1,266,811	Venom wasn't a good case for a franchise of Spider-Man characters without the actual Spider-Man, but made over $850 million, and an extra $500 million came out of sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which at least embraced the silliness and Tom Hardy going insane as Eddie Brock to be more watchable. The trilogy ends in Venom: The Last Dance, the directorial debut of Kelly Marcel, who co-wrote the previous two movies, where Venom is hunted by aliens from his home world who want to release the evil Knull, and reviewers already disliked it for many problems, including hit-or-miss comedy (Venom wanting to join a singalong of "Space Oddity" is amusing, but him dancing to "Dancing Queen" is just cringeworthy). Yet audiences might again provide good box office to the Lethal Protector, as the movie made $95 million worldwide before Sunday.
5	Woman of the Hour	1,242,489	This American crime thriller film, released on Netflix on October 18, is the directorial debut of Anna Kendrick, who also plays Cheryl Bradshaw, the woman who in 1978 won a date with #1 in a matchmaking game show only to refuse to go out with him, thus avoiding being included in his murder spree.
6	Deaths in 2024	1,028,425	Mumbling good morning & raising my head A bad breath kiss to my pillow pet I take a look at the day turns & stay in bed...
7	Fernando Valenzuela	882,113	"El Toro", who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1980 to 1990, died on October 22. The Mexican player played for various other teams seven more seasons. In his time with the Dodgers, his screwball pitch won him two World Series (1981, 1988) and earned him the NL Cy Young Award (1981) and the Gold Glove Award (1986).
8	Fascism	762,276	With election season in the United States (#10) coming up, an increasing number of citizens are wondering what that word means that everyone keeps calling each other.
9	Kamala Harris	722,806	One of the candidates from #10.
10	2024 United States presidential election	697,072	This election enters its final stretch with the Democrat (#9) and Republican candidates still neck-and-neck, at least according to the polls. A record number of mail-in ballots have already been cast ahead of November 5.

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.

Most edited articles

For the September 21 – October 21 period, per this database report.

Title	Revisions	Notes
Deaths in 2024	1948	Aside from the ones listed above, the deceased of the period included Ethel Kennedy, Gavin Creel and Paul Di'Anno, and many people who had entries in the last report (Maggie Smith, Kris Kristofferson, Dikembe Mutombo, John Amos, Hassan Nasrallah, and Pete Rose).
2024 Atlantic hurricane season	1585	Every year from June to November strong winds form storms and cyclones in the Northern Atlantic. Three major hurricanes appeared so far in 2024, Beryl, Helene and Milton. (and let's give a shout out to WP:TROP, a very dedicated bunch that always updates and creates quality articles documenting hurricanes)
Hurricane Helene	1446	After this cyclone was formed on September 24, it climbed through Mexico, Honduras, Cuba and the Cayman Islands before making landfall in Florida, and until its dissipation on September 29 became the deadliest hurricane in the US since Katrina with 252 deaths, along with $45 billion in damages that range from the initial landfall devastation to floods and power outages as Helene went further inland.
Joker: Folie à Deux	1324	A historical failure, which hadn't even covered its massive $200 million budget after three weeks in theaters. A big cause is general disappointment from viewers who wanted the sequel to the wildly successful Joker to live up to the subtitle meaning "madness for two" simply by pairing the Joker and Harley Quinn, only to receive a weird hybrid of courtroom drama, psychological thriller and jukebox musical (in short, the expectations were Bonnie and Clyde, the end product was a non-comedic version of Chicago).
Hurricane Milton	1310	Resuming the hurricane season, one even stronger than Helene even if it arrived with less severe winds in the US, while still causing even costlier damages at $50 billion.
List of Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign endorsements	1191	A list of people supporting the Democrat. In case you're wondering, List of Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign endorsements had 577 edits.
Timeline of the Israel–Hamas war (27 September 2024 – present)	1071	Against most expectations, the Israel-Hamas war ran to the end of a first year; the ever-present chaos in the Middle East seems far from over.
Timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (17 September 2024 – present)	895
Antisemitic trope	803	Given the above, a very relevant topic, hence the cleanup was valid, even if it was unfortunately mostly provided by a user who ended up banned.
2024 Pacific typhoon season	785	On the other side of the Americas, tropical cyclones were also formed. The current one is the deadliest since 2013, mostly owing to Typhoon Yagi between August 31 and September 8 on Southeast Asia and Southern China, and Typhoon Krathon between September 26 and October 4 in the Philippines and Taiwan.
Bigg Boss Marathi season 5	775	One of the Indian Big Brothers, whose season ended on October 5, crowning influencer Suraj Chavan.
History of Christianity	687	Earlier this year, this Vital Article was promoted to Good status. Its first Featured Article candidacy was archived on the same day it was started, so the editors are clearly intent on delivering a page that won't raise objections the second time around.
2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon	650	Controversial Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah has a long-running feud with Israel, and they took advantage of Hamas invading and starting a war last year to fire rockets of their own. Israel kept on fighting back (between October and February, the estimates were 978 Lebanon launches of artillery fire across the border, and 7,948 incidents from Israel), and decided to escalate in September, including an airstrike on the Hezbollah headquarters.
Liam Payne	642	The death of the One Direction member was shocking and let to lots of updates.
2024 Major League Baseball postseason	638	America's pastime had its playoffs, and the 2024 World Series will be one between the country's biggest cities, namely New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers.