Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/March 17 to 23, 2013

=Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (March 17 – March 23 2013)= ← Last week's report – Next week's Report →

Summary: Despite a relatively high view count for the top spot, this list had the lowest point of entry since the week of January 27. As with most low-ranking lists, it is dominated by pop-culture (current TV series, popular websites, sports, celebrity gossip), or by holdovers from previous weeks (Pope Francis, Harlem Shake). The only notable intrusions from the Real World were St Patrick's Day, which garnered two slots, and Cyprus, which has scared enough of the world for anyone to want to keep an eye on it. Curiously, the only film opening this week on this list is Spring Breakers; the top two films at the box office (The Croods and Olympus Has Fallen) didn't even break the top 75 on Wikipedia.

For the week of March 17 to March 23, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Last ! Wks ! Article ! Views ! Notes
 * 1
 * 5
 * 2
 * Saint Patrick's Day
 * align="right"|2,786,414
 * Kilbennan St. Benin's Church Window St. Patrick Detail 2010 09 16.jpg Every man has his day, at least if he's a saint. And when your day happens to involve copious alcohol consumption and opportunities for gradeschool cruelty, it is bound to be popular. A Google Doodle doesn't hurt either.
 * 2
 * 11
 * 11
 * Facebook
 * align="right"|613,099
 * A perennially favorite article.
 * 3
 * Cyprus
 * align="right"|552,288
 * Flag of Cyprus.svg This Mediterranean island is no doubt piquing international interest due to the foreboding financial crisis it has apparently triggered.
 * 4
 * 12
 * 6
 * The Walking Dead (TV series)
 * align="right"|527,858
 * The American television series, currently airing in third season, is enjoying increasing popularity. Though it has actually declined in views since last week, the low overall view count has increased its ranking.
 * 5
 * 3
 * 2
 * Pope Francis
 * align="right"|517,325
 * Card. Jorge Bergoglio SJ, 2008 (crop 2).jpg The new Pope is now one week into his Papacy and still popular.
 * 6
 * 25
 * 3
 * Game of Thrones (TV series)
 * align="right"|465,640
 * Popular television series whose third season begins on March 31
 * 7
 * Spring Breakers
 * align="right"|438,570
 * For some utterly inexplicable reason, a movie about buxom former Disney starlets running around Florida in skimpy bikinis while shooting off giant guns proved immensely popular this week.
 * 8
 * Limonana
 * align="right"|437,856
 * Mint lemonade.jpg This Israeli drink, created in the 1990s as part of a spoof ad campaign, spiked in popularity on March 19 due to a Main Page appearance on Reddit.
 * 9
 * 17
 * 5
 * Deaths in 2013
 * align="right"| 422,085
 * The lists of deaths in the current year is always a quite popular article.
 * 10
 * 14
 * 6
 * The Walking Dead (season 3)
 * align="right"|420,344
 * See #4 above.
 * 11
 * 15
 * 2
 * Justin Timberlake
 * align="right"|416,543
 * Justin Timberlake 2011 AA - Cropped.jpg The singer just released his newest album, The 20/20 Experience
 * 12
 * UFC 158
 * align="right"|400,695
 * A long-desired match between mixed martial arts stars Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz was finally held on March 16
 * 13
 * Lindsey Vonn
 * align="right"|400,396
 * LindseyVonnApr10-3.jpg The multiple World Cup-winning skier has seen her popularity surge for... dating Tiger Woods. That's celebrity for you.
 * 14
 * Saint Patrick
 * align="right"| 394,862
 * Kilbennan St. Benin's Church Window St. Patrick Detail 2010 09 16.jpg The man rides his day into notoriety.
 * 15
 * 19
 * 5
 * World War II
 * align="right"| 393,912
 * Another perennially popular article. (The 16th most popular article from 2010–12, in fact, see Table 2 here.)
 * 16
 * YouTube
 * align="right"|367,937
 * Another perennially popular article, for the highly popular video-sharing website.
 * 17
 * Google
 * align="right"|347,601
 * A perennially popular article.
 * 18
 * 10
 * 3
 * Oz the Great and Powerful
 * align="right"| 341,978
 * Fell to #3 in the box office this week, but on course to make $200 million.
 * 19
 * 13
 * 5
 * Harlem Shake (meme)
 * align="right"| 340,753
 * The Meme That Will Not Die continues to... not die, though it has fallen considerably in views since last week.
 * 20
 * Macklemore
 * align="right"|336,537
 * Macklemore The Heist Tour 1 cropped.jpg Popular singer returning the top 25, though nearly always in the top 50
 * 21
 * San Marino
 * align="right"|333,754
 * San-Marino-Gondola-1283.jpg This tiny country-in-a-country got some worldwide attention on March 22 when its football team was subjected to a staggeringly unfair World Cup qualifier against England, whose citizens outnumber its own by roughly 16,000 to 1. They lost 8–0, in case you were wondering.
 * 22
 * The Big Bang Theory
 * align="right"|332,415
 * Popular science geek sitcom. A perennially popular article that makes occasional appearances in the Top 25
 * 23
 * Arrow (TV series)
 * align="right"| 327,771
 * This currently popular Green Arrow TV series is nearing the end of its first season.
 * 24
 * Nowruz
 * align="right"|320,212
 * A Google Doodle on the first day of the Persian New Year (which fell on the Spring Equinox on March 20) stimulated web users to learn more.
 * 25
 * Bates Motel (TV series)
 * align="right"| 317,553
 * Both the second attempt at a Psycho TV series and the second attempt at a prequel, this stands a good chance of being better than both of those feeble incarnations, and also at being the most popular novel-based-film-based serial killer TV series. At least until Hannibal comes out in two weeks.
 * }
 * Oz the Great and Powerful
 * align="right"| 341,978
 * Fell to #3 in the box office this week, but on course to make $200 million.
 * 19
 * 13
 * 5
 * Harlem Shake (meme)
 * align="right"| 340,753
 * The Meme That Will Not Die continues to... not die, though it has fallen considerably in views since last week.
 * 20
 * Macklemore
 * align="right"|336,537
 * Macklemore The Heist Tour 1 cropped.jpg Popular singer returning the top 25, though nearly always in the top 50
 * 21
 * San Marino
 * align="right"|333,754
 * San-Marino-Gondola-1283.jpg This tiny country-in-a-country got some worldwide attention on March 22 when its football team was subjected to a staggeringly unfair World Cup qualifier against England, whose citizens outnumber its own by roughly 16,000 to 1. They lost 8–0, in case you were wondering.
 * 22
 * The Big Bang Theory
 * align="right"|332,415
 * Popular science geek sitcom. A perennially popular article that makes occasional appearances in the Top 25
 * 23
 * Arrow (TV series)
 * align="right"| 327,771
 * This currently popular Green Arrow TV series is nearing the end of its first season.
 * 24
 * Nowruz
 * align="right"|320,212
 * A Google Doodle on the first day of the Persian New Year (which fell on the Spring Equinox on March 20) stimulated web users to learn more.
 * 25
 * Bates Motel (TV series)
 * align="right"| 317,553
 * Both the second attempt at a Psycho TV series and the second attempt at a prequel, this stands a good chance of being better than both of those feeble incarnations, and also at being the most popular novel-based-film-based serial killer TV series. At least until Hannibal comes out in two weeks.
 * }
 * Arrow (TV series)
 * align="right"| 327,771
 * This currently popular Green Arrow TV series is nearing the end of its first season.
 * 24
 * Nowruz
 * align="right"|320,212
 * A Google Doodle on the first day of the Persian New Year (which fell on the Spring Equinox on March 20) stimulated web users to learn more.
 * 25
 * Bates Motel (TV series)
 * align="right"| 317,553
 * Both the second attempt at a Psycho TV series and the second attempt at a prequel, this stands a good chance of being better than both of those feeble incarnations, and also at being the most popular novel-based-film-based serial killer TV series. At least until Hannibal comes out in two weeks.
 * }
 * 25
 * Bates Motel (TV series)
 * align="right"| 317,553
 * Both the second attempt at a Psycho TV series and the second attempt at a prequel, this stands a good chance of being better than both of those feeble incarnations, and also at being the most popular novel-based-film-based serial killer TV series. At least until Hannibal comes out in two weeks.
 * }
 * Both the second attempt at a Psycho TV series and the second attempt at a prequel, this stands a good chance of being better than both of those feeble incarnations, and also at being the most popular novel-based-film-based serial killer TV series. At least until Hannibal comes out in two weeks.
 * }


 * This list is derived from the WP:5000 report. It excludes the Wikipedia main page (and "wiki"), non-article pages, and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Notable removals this week: G-force; this has been in the Top 25 since the list was started at the beginning of the year.  The continuing popularity of this article, which jumped in June 2012, has been without explanation.  Articles on popular scientific concepts get nowhere this level of viewing based on our analysis to date, e.g., Gravitation (49,516 views from March 3–9), and therefore we have decided to remove it from the list as most likely caused by non-human views.  Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish); Cat anatomy (explanation still unknown for its continuing high view counts); Aho–Corasick string matching algorithm (765,138 views); New Brunswick (431,139 views due to a sudden, sustained rise on March 19) and Hollow Body Guitar (398,715 views) a perpetual addition likely due to spambots.
 * Number of views needed to reach Top 25 this week: 317,443. Last week: 358,386.
 * Almosts: Argo (2012 film) 	(317,443 views); Duck Dynasty (305,552 views) The Royal Bank of Scotland (304,202 views)
 * The revision of WP:5000 containing the data used to create list: