Netflix
As Netflix is celebrating 111 Emmy nominations, the streamer also is on a ratings high, with its first American Harlan Coben adaptation, I Will Find Youstarring Sam Worthington, amassing 74.1M views in 18 days, on track to potentially crack Netflix’s Top 10 most popular English series list where the UK-made Fool Me Oncepreviously held a spot
“Harlan is brilliant, he really understands his audience, we’ve had so much success, andI Will Find You is very much tracking to be up there, as you say,” Netflix’s Head of UCAN Scripted Series Jinny Howe said during an interview tied to the streamer’s Emmy nominations. “We’re very proud of its performance, it continues to be successful and watched around the world.”
Under Netflix’s partnership with the prolific author, the streamer has released 13 series adaptations to date made across multiple countries, with more underway — including a show based on the Myron Bolitar books headlined by Colin Woodell. I Will Find You‘s breakout success is sure to fuel a further Harlan Coben slate expansion
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“We’re just focused on looking for the best stories; he’s got a trove of characters, and he really, really understands how to be a great partner with us and bring those stories to fans around the world,” Howe said. “So this has been very, very successful for us.”
Season 2 Ratings Slippage
Over the last six months, Netflix has found success with thriller limited series such as His & Hers, currently No. 10 on the Top 10 Most Popular English Series list, and I Will Find You
Meanwhile, a slew of series have experienced a “sophomore slump,” posting steep year-to-year viewership declines in their Season 2 opening weeks. For Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Four Seasons, A Good Girl’s Guide, Beefand A Man On the Inside, the drops have been over 55%
Howe says the season-to-season premiere week comparison does not provide the full picture
“I think for us, it’s not necessarily something that we understand to be true of our shows,” Howe said about the “sophomore slump” phenomenon. “It does feel like we still have many shows like Bridgerton,that was one of the biggest seasons that we’ve had, and it feels like we have been able to grow subsequent seasons of shows, so for us it doesn’t feel like something that we’re overly concerned or focused on.”
Indeed, all of the ongoing series listed above, along with Running Point, whose second season opened 43% below Season 1, have been renewed for third seasons
Deadline has noted that romantic series like Bridgerton, Virgin River, Emily In Parisand Nobody Wants This have been more resilient with modest season-to-season premiere viewership declines
And while Netflix has not revealed numbers for BridgertonSeason 4 beyond the series’ tallies on the Weekly Top 10 rankers, the latest installment is said to have amassed 97.3M views in its first 91 days, just outside of the Top 10 most popular list where His & Herssits at No. 10 with 98.2M views
Netflix also puts emphasis on catalogue play, with overall performance evaluated on how much viewership a series collects between season drops and how big of a bump previous installments get as a new one is released
Stranger Things is a skewed example, being one of Netflix’s biggest series ever, but it collected more than 70M a year across the first four seasons in 2023 and 2024 with no new episodes released
‘Virgin River’ Keeps Running
One of those resilient Netflix series is Virgin River, the longest-running original scripted show on the streamer, which is currently filming its eighth installment. Is the end in sight or could the romantic drama keep going?
“All I’m going to say is the fans of this show are going to continue to get what they want as long as they want, and we are being very thoughtful about how to make sure we are both serving but protecting the fandom,” Howe said
‘The Boroughs’ Demise
One of Netflix’s highest-profile cancellations so far this year was The Boroughs, the Stranger Things-esque series executive produced by the Duffer Brothers and starring Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters and Bill Pullman
As Deadline noted, the series, which opened to strong reviews and soft viewership, carried a big price tag, something that factors into Netflix’s renewal decisions
The news of The Boroughs‘ cancellation broke five days before the end of the Emmy voting window. Nominations came out today, with the show completely shut out despite O’Hare urging voters post-cancellations to recognize it
“There’s so many factors that go into when we ultimately decide that we’re not going to be able to bring a show back; it’s something we’re really thoughtful and considerate about,” Howe said about the cancellation. “I know you know that there were a lot of different factors that weighed into that decision in particular. We’re really, really proud of that show, we think they delivered a very entertaining cinematic experience for many, many people who loved it.”
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