Sometimes you know what people are watching on Netflix just by being part of culture. It’s not going to shock anyone to learn that “Squid Game” and the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight were, indeed, hits.
But when you dive further into the streamer’s data, weirder trends begin to emerge.
For example, did you know that in the last six months of 2024, people were all about “Prison Break” and that audiences were watching that nearly 20-year-old Fox series far more than both “Lost” or “Dexter”? Well, now you do.
Following the streamer’s release of its most watched titles from July to December of 2024, TheWrap combed through the top 100 TV titles in search for trends. Then we went a bit beyond that just for fun. From “Squid Game” Season 2 to “Tokyo Swindlers,” here’s what the world was watching in the second half of 2024.
Altogether, more people watched “Prison Break” than “Squid Game”
Do you know what people loved to watch the second half of 2024? “Prison Break.” Across the Fox drama’s five seasons, the series was responsible for 109.3 million views. The only show to come close to that metric was “Squid Game,” which secured 108.9 million views during the time period in question. That number was largely driven by Season 2, which saw 86.5 million views, but Season 1 also saw an impressive 22.4 million views.
The first season of “Prison Break” was its most popular, seeing 31.9 million views. But the finale was nothing to laugh at either. The last season of the Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller drama saw 15.3 million views.
It should be noted that the viewership for “Squid Game” Season 2 only includes its first six days on Netflix since it premiered on Dec. 26. The Korean thriller currently has 187.3 million views, meaning that chances are high “Squid Game” Season 2 will be towards the top of Netflix’s next roundup.
The first half of 2024 had much bigger hits than the second half
By now everyone knows “Squid Game” Season 2 was the most-watched TV show in the back half of 2024. The South Korean drama scored 86.5 million views in just six days of viewing. But what’s less known is that three of the most watched shows in the first half of 2024 exceeded its viewership. By comparison, “Fool Me Once” brought in 107.5 million views in the first six months of 2024 while “Bridgerton” Season 3 scored 91.9 million views and “Baby Reindeer” scored 87.6 million views.
The viewership for “Monsters” dropped roughly 40% compared to Season 1
It’s no secret that the Jeffrey Dahmer installment of Ryan Murphy’s “Monster” was a bigger hit than the Menendez season. After all, “The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” remains the third most-watched English-language Netflix series of all time, whereas “The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” doesn’t even rank on the list. But thanks to the Netflix report, we now know that the Dahmer season was roughly 40% more widely watched than the Menendez season.
It should be noted that this isn’t a perfect metric. Netflix’s Most Popular Shows list calculates how many hours a title was watched during its first 91 days on the streamer. In the case of “Dahmer,” that series was viewed 115.6 million times. However, the data for the “Menendez” season includes its first 103 days on the platform, which amounted to 69.7 million views. Long story short? The viewership gap between Seasons 1 and 2 is likely a bit greater than 40%, but that percentage is fairly safe.
“Emily in Paris” was the second most-watched Netflix original
At 108.9 million views, “Squid Game” was unquestionably the most-watched Netflix original series in the back half of 2024. But do you know what’s in second place? “Emily in Paris.” Accounting for views across all four of its seasons, the rom-com secured 101.2 million views. Most of those came from Season 4, which premiered in September of last year and saw 57.8 million views.
Children’s TV still remained a massive driver
Never count out children’s TV. During the second half of 2024, “Cocomelon” was the most watched children’s show, securing 106.6 million views across its 12 seasons. Those numbers put the Moonbug Entertainment show in third place in terms of total views, right behind “Prison Break” and “Squid Game.”
“Cocomelon” wasn’t the only series to hit big numbers. “Peppa Pig” also saw nine digits, accounting for 100.9 million views during this six-month period. “Gabby’s Dollhouse” was close behind, bringing in 92.2 million views. Even “Cocomelon Lane,” the three-season spinoff, saw 41.7 million views. Those numbers make the spinoff comparable to “Virgin River,” a series that’s largely considered to be a mid-sized Netflix hit.
Kids TV Is Dead, Long Live Kids TV
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight saw over 3x the viewership of streamer’s NFL games
Not only was Jake Paul and Mike Tyson’s fight the streamer’s No. 7 most-watched TV program during the interval with 48.9 million views, it also well exceeded viewership for the NFL Christmas Day games. The Ravens vs. Texans game brought in 14.4 million views while the Chiefs vs. Steelers game brought in 14.3 million views, both of which were more than tripled by the fight’s viewership.
It should be noted that because the boxing match premiered on Nov. 15 and is available to stream on Netflix after its air date, the Paul vs. Tyson fight had more of an opportunity to rack up additional views. But that shouldn’t be too much of a factor since most people watch sports live. What’s more likely the case is that boxing has a more global appeal than football, hence it was more widely watched.
People did NOT like the “Squid Game” fireplace
While the “Squid Game” franchise brings an unprecedented amount of eyeballs to Netflix, the holiday edition “Squid Game” fireplace did not fare as well. “Squid Game: Fireplace,” which launched globally on Dec. 13, logged a meager 300,000 views, on par with the White Christmas fireplace and viewership for past comedy specials from Jo Koy, Joe Rogan and Fortune Feimster. For comparison’s sake, the most streamed birchwood fireplace saw 9.9 million views during this time period, and the themed “Witcher” fireplace saw 700,000 views.
