I'm always interested to know what everyone's watching. It turns out we're all watching Suits! Yup, that very old legal drama that Meghan Markle starred in before she married her prince. Nielsen's streaming ratings came out yesterday and the big surprise is Suits. But there haven’t been any new episodes of Suits in over five years!
Less surprising, at least to me, is that Ted Lasso was the most watched streamer for 2023 with ORIGINAL content. That's especially significant because the top screening spot usually goes to Netflix. Apple TV+ is the platform with the least subscribers. Ted Lasso is the first show that doesn’t stream on Netflix to take a No 1 ranking in Nielsen’s year end charts.
Ted Lasso was such a surprise No 1 that Nielsen had to double check their figures. “We rechecked everything, and it held up,” says Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president product strategy told The Hollywood Reporter “Even though Apple TV+ didn’t have the biggest footprint, a lot of people have either watched it multiple times or they’ve had more people come into their viewing pool and watch it.”
TV executives have been eagerly awaiting Nielsen's report. Given that streaming takes up the biggest share of TV usage, the figures are important because they demonstrates our viewing patterns. Among other popular shows was Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, The Big Bang Theory and Friends. All of these, you notice, were old shows which have been licensed by the streaming platforms. Comfort viewing, you might call it.
Netflix has, until now, dominated the world of original content. With seven other titles in Nielsen’s original program top ten like The Night Agent and Ginny and Georgia, it still remains the streamer to beat. But its position is undeniably under threat.
In the years before streaming, I can remember complaining about TV repeats and longing for new shows to come along. In an entertainment world of almost limitless choice where some of the best TV ever made is to be found at just the touch of our remotes, it seems strange to me that Suits could still be in demand.
But then I am equally reassured that there are others out there who adored Ted Lasso like me. The good news is we have more choice than ever before, whether our preference is for old or new.