Liza on Demand, a YouTube original sitcom starring and co-created by YouTube comedian Liza Koshy, broke records on the platform withe its season two premiere episode becoming the most watched premiere episode on the platform. The episode, titled “Naked” garnered 25 million views in the first seven days (Sept. 25-Oct. 1), Variety reports.
YouTube believes the strong viewership is partially due to the fact that they made all episodes of Liza on Demand season one available in August, generating new fans, who then tuned in for season two. The fact that viewers knew they’d eventually be able to see the full run for free was also a contributing factor.
YouTube premiered season two of the scripted show for YouTube Premium subscribers—who got the entire season—as well as weekly episodic roll-outs with ads for free to watch on YouTube.
To count their views, YouTube uses an undisclosed algorithm that tallies users who watched some portion of a video (varying depending on overall length) and discarding “low-quality playbacks” like those generated by bots, Variety reports. Also noteworthy is the fact that the video platform only publicly reports views for the premiere episodes of its original series making it impossible for the public to know how YouTube Originals retain audiences over the course of a season.
As of today, “Naked” stands at 74 million views in just over two weeks.