“One Piece” led the pack of the most-watched shows on Netflix during the second half of 2023. From July to December of 2023, the live-action take on the beloved manga was viewed 71.6 million times and racked up 541.9 million viewing hours.
That was followed in second place by German limited series “Dear Child” with 52.5 million views and British limited series “Who Is Erin Carter?” with 50.1 million views.
Overall, limited series did big numbers for Netflix during the second half of 2023. Including “Dear Child” and “Who Is Erin Carter?,” nine of the Top 20 titles during this six-month period were limited series. These included the docuseries “Beckham” (43.9 million views), the Taylor Kitsch opioid drama “Painkiller” (34.4 million views), the Mark Ruffalo WWII saga “All the Light We Cannot See” (33.9 million views), the South Korean rom-com “King the Land” (33.2 million views), the legal docuseries “Depp v. Heard” (31.7 million views), the Swedish thriller “A Nearly Normal Family” (28 million views) and the Mike Flanagan horror series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” (27 million views).
The fourth most-watched title on the list was “Lupin” Part 3, which secured 49.7 million views. “Lupin” also marked the first multi-season entry on the roundup. The series saw a total of 92.1 million views across this six month period. That was followed in fifth place by “The Witcher” Season 3 at 47.9 million views and in sixth place by Season 4 of “Sex Education,” which saw 46.3 million views.
“The Witcher” saw a bigger boost from its new season than “Sex Education.” Season 2 of the fantasy horror series was viewed 13.5 million times, and Season 1 was viewed 14.8 million times, bringing the series’ total views up to 76.2 million views. Comparatively, the total viewership for “Sex Education” was 75.6 million views with only Seasons 1 and 4 topping more than 10 million views.
Other multi-season shows to appear on the Top 20 list were “CoComelon,” “Virgin River” and “The Lincoln Lawyer.” The eighth season of the children’s show “CoComelon” saw 37.6 million views and secured the No. 8 spot on the Top 20. Season 1 also appeared in the No. 16 slot. The fifth season of the romantic series “Virgin River” saw 35.8 million views and secured the No. 9 spot. Finally, the second season of the legal drama “The Lincoln Lawyer” saw 35.7 million views and secured the No. 10 spot.
Out of those three series, “CoComelon” was the most watched series during this time period, securing a total of 190.5 million views. Between the five seasons of “Virgin River,” the series saw 69.1 million views, and the two seasons of “The Lincoln Lawyer” saw 56.2 million views.
Other than “One Piece,” first season hits included the young-adult romance “My Life With the Walter Boys” (33.4 million views), the reality series based on the South Korean hit “Squid Game: The Challenge” (33.1 million views) and the action comedy “Obliterated” (27 million views). “Obliterated” was also the only title on the Top 20 list to be canceled.
Though it didn’t appear in the Top 10 of most-watched titles, last summer’s mega hit “Suits” held strong, securing a total of 144.1 million views as well as 1.586 billion viewing hours. It should be noted that Season 9 of the series wasn’t available globally, which puts an asterisk on the 3.5 million views for that season.
The other big library shows that dominated viewership during the first six months of 2023 — “Breaking Bad,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Walking Dead” — also brought in impressive numbers. In terms of views, “Grey’s” brought in the most across its 19 seasons with 48.25 million views and 786.5 million hours viewed. “The Walking Dead” was viewed 46.8 million times and secured 533.9 million hours viewed. Finally, “Breaking Bad” saw 36.4 million views as well as 345.5 million hours viewed.
Both “The Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad” saw less viewership in the second half of 2023 compared to the first half. For comparison’s sake, the most watched season of “The Walking Dead” was Season 11, which saw 136 million viewing hours in the first half of 2023 and 81.4 million hours. As for “Breaking Bad,” the most watched season of the AMC drama was Season 2, which saw 116 million viewing hours in the first half of the year and 78.5 million viewing hours in the second half.
Conversely, the most-watched season of “Grey’s Anatomy” — Season 2 — saw a bump in the second half of the year compared to the first. The season had 51 million viewing hours in early 2023 and 78.6 million hours in final six months of the year.
