Most viewed English-language Netflix TV shows 2023

As of October 2023, the most popular English-language Netflix TV show of all time was the first season of the comedy horror TV show "Wednesday," with over 252 million views in the show's first 91 days on the platform. Second most watched on the streaming platform was the first season of American science-fiction series "Stranger Things," counting around 141 million views.

Is high content spending a guarantee for success?

The fourth season of “Stranger Things” belongs not only to the most popular Netflix titles but was also by far the most expensive series for the company as of May 2022, with production costs of 30 million U.S. dollars per episode. In order to stay competitive in the crowded streaming environment, Netflix reported ever rising budgets to produce own content. With amassing the most viewing minutes in the top 10 of the most watched original streaming series in 2022, it seems the video-on-demand provider has been successful with this strategy.

TV series are being canceled quickly

For years, the number of original scripted TV shows released in the U.S. has steadily been growing, peaking in 2022 at nearly 600 broadcast, cable, and streaming series. However, in times of originals continuing to soar, streaming services have canceled several TV shows after just the first or second season. Even alleged popular Netflix series such as “1899” or “Warrior Nun” recently had to go with the story left incomplete, as they fell short of the company’s expectations.