Seinfeld – Picture: Sony Television Pictures
Netflix’s big new content license Seinfeld joined Netflix on October 1st and has made a modest impact on the Netflix top 10s worldwide. Below, we’ll analyze some of the early data out of the top 10s and a couple of other sources to see how well Seinfeld is doing on Netflix.
For a bit of context, Netflix picked up the streaming rights to Seinfeld globally back in 2019. They picked it up for a reported $500 million+. That’s substantially more than Hulu paid ($130 million for six years) but not the global rights as Hulu only operates in the US.
The series had previously streamed on Hulu in the US, where it was said to have accounted for a tiny proportion of viewing. It departed Hulu over the summer before dropping on Netflix globally on October 1st.
So now, almost one week later, how is Seinfeld performing on Netflix?
The answer is it’s performing the strongest in the United States. After the first day, it debuted at number 4 on the TV charts but has since slipped down to number 6 almost a week in.
The show is also notably performing well in Croatia, Canada (where it’s now ahead of its position in the US as of the time of publishing), and Iceland. It’s yet to feature in the top 10s in the United Kingdom.
On October 6th, Seinfeld was the 13th biggest TV series on Netflix, slightly ahead of Love 101 and just behind Lucifer. In the global rankings so far, the show peaked at the eighth most popular series on October 2nd and October 3rd.
Other Metrics on Seinfeld on Netflix
Outside of Netflix’s own top 10 data, we can look at some other indicators as to whether the show is seeing a revival or not. Google Trends suggests search activity is the highest it’s been for the past 12 months but data is still incomplete to get an accurate picture of how it compares over the past 5 years.
Google search trends for Seinfeld in 2021
IMDb’s Moviemeter suggests the show is climbing in popularity. For the week starting September 5th and ending October 3rd, the show climbed up to be #115. That’s gaining in on the #95 position it picked up between April 19th, 2020 and May 17th, 2020. But it’s worth noting that the October 3rd number means that Netflix had only had the title for three days up until that point.
Is Seinfeld enough to make up for the loss of Friends and The Office?
In the US, the big question is whether the addition of Seinfeld is enough to replace The Office and Friends. It’s too early to tell, but you probably have to look at Seinfeld as being a long-term play for Netflix and it being a consistent show that lingers (just like The Office did for 189 days after the introduction of the top 10 feature) rather than dominating all the time.
The Office – Picture: NBCUniversal
Engraining the title as something you come back to watch over and over again takes time, particularly when the show is being introduced to a whole new audience. Whether it’s the type of show will ultimately come down to personal taste.
However, outside the United States, Netflix is currently in what we’re dubbing as the golden age of sitcoms. They have access to both Friends and The Office, which Netflix in the US lost, plus a whole host of other sitcoms ranging from Modern Family, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Superstore.
Have you been enjoying Seinfeld on Netflix since its addition? Let us know in the comments.