Matt Rife’s Controversial Netflix Special Debuts as 2nd Most-Watched TV Program With 7.4 Million Views

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The final season of “The Crown” kicked off its reign with 11.1 million views

Matt Rife
"Matt Rife: Natural Selection" (Credit: Netflix)

Matt Rife’s controversial Netflix special has debuted as the streamer’s second most-watched TV program this week.

As the stand-up comedian’s special, titled “Matt Rife: Natural Selection,” generated outrage over a domestic violence joke that opened his set, the special logged 7.4 million views since its Nov. 15 launch. Still, Rife’s contentious set could not beat the viewership for the final season of “The Crown,” which drew in 11.1 million views as the most-watched English TV show of the week.

Since its Nov. 16 premiere, the first half of the sixth installment of “The Crown” reached the top 10 most-watched English TV list in 85 countries and debuted in the No. 1 spot in 22 countries. The final episodes of the historical fiction drama will premiere Dec. 14.

Next up was Shawn Levy’s “All The Light We Cannot See,” which became the third most-watched series this week with 5.7 million views while also reaching the top 10 in 93 countries. The first installments of “How to Become a Mob Boss” and “Escaping Twin Flames” took fourth and fifth place on the list, while “Selling Sunset” Season 7 scored the No. 6 most-watched English TV show.

On the film front, David Fincher’s “The Killer” became the most-watched title of the week on the streamer with 22.3 million views, outpacing the viewership of holiday movie “Best.Christmas.Ever!” which debuted as the No. 2 most-watched English movie with 16.3 million views. “Locked In” returned to the list in fourth place with 5.1 million views, as did Emily Blunt and Chris Evans-led “Pain Hustlers,” which came in ninth place with 2.6M views. 

The third installment of French mystery series “Lupin” remained on the non-English TV list for the seventh week in a row, this time in the No. 9 spot with 1.5 million views. Brazilian action series “Criminal Code” debuted atop the list with 6.5 million views while Italian thriller “Suburræterna” came next in second place with 2.6 million views.

International action thrillers also dominated this week’s viewing as Korean movie “Believer 2” debuted to the top of the Non-English films list with 5.6 million views, while French action comedy “Wingwomen” took second place with 4.6 million views and French comedy “All-Time High” came in third place with 2.7 million views this week. 

Comments

2 responses to “Matt Rife’s Controversial Netflix Special Debuts as 2nd Most-Watched TV Program With 7.4 Million Views”

  1. Jag johnson Avatar
    Jag johnson

    It was not funny. Masturbation n female. Beatings.  He’s lost it tho never had it 

    1. Nell Avatar
      Nell

      it was hilarious and the second grossing show on all major 15 networks. His routines are especially LOVED by women. Trying to cancel Rife got him even more fans. and he is not advocating “beatings” but mocking those who do. My guess is you find all standup offensive.

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