Today, Netflix released viewership data for the second half of 2023. The numbers shine a light on what worked, what flopped, and how Netflix may move forward in the future.
‘One Piece’ to Rule Them All
The most-watched show on Netflix in the second half of 2023 was “One Piece.” The live-action remake of an anime classic racked up an incredible 71.6 million views and over 541 million hours. The easy conclusion is that Netflix should greenlight more live-action remakes of anime shows, right? Well, maybe not.
One of Netflix’s most high-profile flops was the live-action “Cowboy Bebop,” which hit the platform in November 2021. Although it hit the Netflix Top 10 list for three weeks, the show declined 59% in viewing hours from its second week to its third. Netflix canceled the show less than a month after its debut.
Netflix’s remake of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was a hit this year. It spent six weeks in the Top 10 and its debut pulled in even more hours than “One Piece.”
The drop-off after week two seems to be a common theme with all of these shows. Even “One Piece” lost 48% of its hours viewed during that period. The difference is that “Bebop’s” best week resulted in 36.9 million hours, while “One Piece” topped 145 million and “Avatar” passed 153 million hours.
Clearly, there’s a benefit to using existing IP, but not every title is worthy of the remake treatment. “Jupiter's Legacy” famously flopped with roughly 16.9 million hours in its best week. But the successes of “One Piece” and “Avatar” suggest Netflix will go back to the well with more remakes to come.
Standup Remains Sturdy
Since HBO abdicated its role as the go-to standup comedy platform, Netflix has been reaping the benefits. Standup specials are remarkably cheap to produce, even if the comics themselves command steep rates. Matt Rife's “Natural Selection” was the most-watched special in the second half of last year with 12.7 million views. “Beautiful Dogs” from Shane Gillis brought 12 million views. Tom Segura’s “Sledgehammer” had 11.8 million views. Ricky Gervais’ “Armageddon” pulled in 8 million.
Most notably, Dave Chappelle’s special, “The Dreamer,” snagged 2.2 million views in just one day. It was released on December 31, the last day included on this report. Even Chappelle’s older specials held up — 2021’s “The Closer” provided 1.8 million views, 2019’s “Sticks and Stones” brought 1.5 million, and “Equanimity & The Bird Revelation” from 2017 added another 1 million views.
These older standup specials still add a fair amount of value to the streamer. Two old Nate Bargatze shows provided 2.1 and 2.5 million views. While Trevor Noah’s latest special racked up 5.6 million views in the last 12 days of the year, his 2022 special brought in 1.8 million views, and his 2018 show added 500,000.
This sustained success explains why Hulu is getting into the standup game, starting with a Jim Gaffigan special in November.
Trivial Pursuit
One notable title in the list is “Triviaverse.” The interactive trivia game only takes a few minutes to play, but it’s been accessed 13 million times. Netflix has largely moved away from its interactive experiments, but “Triviaverse” is a fun little diversion that must have been cheap to create and it could hint at more of these diversions down the line.
‘Suit’ Up
A continuing shock is the success of “Suits.” Although this show debuted in 2011, its first season was the 21st most-watched show on Netflix in the second half of 2023. That season alone got 26.9 million views and 247 million hours. Season 2 got 26.9 million views. Even Season 9 got 3.5 million views.
Older shows that debuted on traditional TV are still important in the Netflix mix. “Gossip Girl,” “Breaking Bad,” “Vikings,” “The Walking Dead,” “Young Sheldon,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Shameless,” and “Rick and Morty” are getting incredibly high engagement.
It’s Not TV…
In 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery surrendered the exclusivity it had been pursuing since the launch of then-HBO Max. Netflix was happy to gobble up archival titles from the HBO library.
Netflix subscribers watched 15.6 million hours of the first season of “Insecure” and 10.6 million hours of the first season of “Ballers.” Acclaimed miniseries “Band of Brothers” was viewed for 91.7 million hours and “The Pacific” was watched 85.5 million hours. As long as Warner Bros. Discovery is willing to loan out its titles, Netflix will likely crack open the wallet.
If It Ain’t Broke
Another surprising data point is the enduring popularity of some of Netflix’s oldest shows. The first season of “House of Cards” from 2013 grabbed 2 million views in the second half of 2023. The first season of “Orange is the New Black” (also from 2013), brought 3.6 million views.
The dystopian sci-fi anthology “Black Mirror” is another long-haul hit. Season 1 (2013) had 6.2 million views, Season 2 (2014) had 4.6 million views. All the old seasons are performing remarkably well, probably aided by the brand-new Season 6, which had 16.9 million views for 87.9 million hours. The four seasons of “Stranger Things” added 269 million hours in the last half of 2023.
Although not every Netflix show hits the jackpot, the enduring appeal of these titles just makes a Netflix subscription ever more valuable as time goes on. Max ran into a buzzsaw of criticism for deleting some of its exclusive shows. Disney+ swept the “Willow” TV series under the rug. But Netflix is hoarding its titles for the biggest possible library.
Remember “Jupiter’s Legacy,” the show that flopped so hard in 2021? It still accounted for 6.8 million viewing hours in the second half of 2023. Viewership is viewership, whether you’re consuming a canceled series like “Cowboy Bebop,” an old TV show from another network like “Suits,” or the latest hot title.