You People, Lockwood & Co, That 90s Show – Pictures: Netflix
Welcome to your weekly rundown of the biggest stories from Netflix’s top 10 hourly figures drop for the week ending January 29th, 2023.
Every Tuesday, Netflix updates its top 10 stats page with 40 new hourly figures of the top movies and shows of the past seven days. If you want to browse the top 10 hourly data easily, visit our tool.
Note: In this report of Netflix’s hours viewed from January 23rd, 2023, to January 29th, 2023, we’ll use “Complete Viewings Equivalent,” or CVE, expressed in millions. That means we divide the hours viewed announced by Netflix by the runtime of films or series. It allows for better comparisons between films and series, but it’s not an audience metric. It is the minimum number of viewings if they were all complete from the first second to the last of the film or season.
1. You People makes a perfect comedy movie launch.
Picture: Netflix
The Eddie Murphy-led comedy You People did a very good start last week with 28.3M CVEs over its first three days. It’s the third-best launch for an American comedy released on a Friday, just behind Me Time and Senior Year and far beyond what A Madea Homecoming did last year in January. It can eye a 70-80M CVEs run for its first 28 days, making it sequel-compatible however, it’s worth noting Kenya Barris did exit his Netflix deal.
You People CVE viewership vs other major Netflix Original movies
2. Lockwood & Co still has reasons to hope for a renewal
Picture: Netflix
I have some good news and some bad news regarding Lockwood & Co. Let’s start with the bad news: with only 4.4M CVEs over its first three days, that’s really on the low end for a new English-speaking series.
But here’s the good news: it’s also on the high end for a young adult British series, beyond what Heartstopper did (the series was renewed) and twice the debut numbers of Half Bad (this series was canceled). So there’s hope, but the series will need to pick up the pace in its second week, and let’s hope that Netflix United Kingdom has a distinct set of requirements for the renewals of its series compared to its American studio equivalent.
Lockwood & Co CVE viewership vs other Netflix Originals
3. That 90s Show might get renewed. Or not.
Let’s circle back to That 90s Show which ends its second week with 17.3M CVEs. Now, if it were any other splashy new American series with quite a high budget, I would presume it to be swiftly canceled.
But That 90s Show is a sitcom (and not an expensive one at that), and that probably calls for different standards, especially considering that Netflix needs sitcoms on its service and that the previous ones hardly make it to the weekly Top 10. When we compare its numbers to other American shows that premiered last year, we can see it’s currently charting in the cancellation zone, but I would not rule out a renewal for that one. The completion rate will be important, as will the cost.
That 90s Show CVE viewership vs other Netflix series
4. Ginny & Georgia is Netflix’s first big success of 2023.
There are series that lose audience from season to season, and then there’s Ginny & Georgia, which proves again this week that the success of its first season was quite real and not a fluke.
After 25 days, the second season logged nearly 52M CVEs, while the first season reached 42.5M CVEs after 28 days. I’m guessing a multiple seasons renewal is being discussed at Netflix.
Ginny and Georgia Season 2 CVE Viewership
5. Some success in regional programming this week
Picture: Netflix
Let’s take a closer look at some regional programming success this week by starting with the Norwegian war film Narvik. It beat the record for the best launch for any film released on a Monday on Netflix with 20.9M CVEs over its first seven days.
This week’s second breakout success comes from Spain with the limited series The Snow Girl, which achieved the best launch for any Spanish series released on a Friday with 7.1M CVEs, far beyond Welcome to Eden (which was renewed).
In Latin America, the Brazilian limited series The Endless Night also did wonders with 7.9M CVEs in five days, the best launch for any series hailing from Latin America and released on a Wednesday, beating Palpito (which also was renewed).
Finally, in Asia, the second season of Record of Ragnarok made the best launch for a Japanese animated series released on a Thursday with 7.2M CVEs. More episodes are coming your way this year.
6. The Recruit renewed for a second season.
To finish, we’ve heard this week that The recruit had been renewed for a second season. Looking at the numbers and comparing them to the other new US series released in 2022, the renewal makes sense but just about. Well done The recruit, you completed your mission. Season 2 will have to do better, though.
The Recruit CVE viewership vs other Netflix Series