Suits Breaks Netflix Streaming Record
According to the latest Neilsen streaming numbers reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Suits has ranked number one overall on Netflix for the fourth consecutive week. Other series which pulled large streaming numbers this week include Amazon Prime Video’s Jack Ryan and Bluey on Disney+, each accumulating over 1 billion streaming minutes from viewers at home.
Suits is dominating Netflix and Peacock in a way no other series has, remaining number one for a fourth straight week with over 3.7 billion minutes of watch time.
Though it’s difficult to visualize the scope of these series getting over a billion minutes in streams in a single week, it’s even more impressive to consider the numbers Suits is pulling in for Netflix when taking into consideration that the series concluded nearly four years ago. Through this feat, Suits has broken the single-week record for a streaming library series for several consecutive weeks, bringing massive viewership onto the Netflix platform.
Suits brought in nearly 3.7 billion minutes of watch time, accounting for streams across both Netflix and Peacock, marking the series as the highest watched acquired show in Neilsen ratings’ history. This could be attributed to a number of external factors, including the bingeable nature of the show, the lack of new series released as a result of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, or the show’s newfound viral popularity.
Before Suits blew up on Netflix enough to earn billions of streaming minutes per week, the series saw a newfound audience of young people on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube shorts, where minute-long clips from the series are often posted, teasing full-length plot lines. Though Suits is not the first series to get this treatment, it does seem to have a unique knack for transferring momentary onlookers into full-time fans.
Origianlly airing on USA, Suits has been off the air since 2019, yet it’s become the breakout show of 2023.
The series follows Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter, a corporate Manhattan lawyer who takes on Patrick J Adams’ Mike Ross as his new legal partner. After learning that Ross is a fraud who never attended law school and uses his perfectly photographic memory to maintain a near-perfect understanding of the law, Harvey and Mike must work together to avoid getting caught. Over time, Suits introduces a number of incredible characters, marking the show as one of Netflix’s best binge-watches in their entire extensive catalog.
Suits has been available on Peacock and Prime Video for years, but once it came to Netflix, the series took off.
In addition to topping the Neilsen charts with Suits, Netflix rounds out eight spots in the top 10 for this week, with a number of classic series, including The Witcher, Cocomelon, and NCIS, as well as new releases such as Quarterback, The Outlaws, and The Lincoln Lawyer. With only Bluey and Jack Ryan breaking the Netflix bubble this week, it seems clear that the other streamers have some stiff competition on their hands, especially as we continue into the fourth ongoing month of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, which continues holding up any new film or television productions.
Seasons 1-8 of Suits are available to stream on Netflix now, with the final season available exclusively on Peacock. The show, which ended in September 2019, continues to pull in enormous streaming figures with no signs of slowing or stopping any time soon. Though the Neilsen ratings are not a perfect system for measuring success, it seems clear that these billions of watch minutes represent a massive fan base for the series.
