Summary
- Suits is Netflix’s most-watched series for the week of June 19-25, according to new data from Nielsen.
- It was watched for 2.3 billion minutes in the aforementioned period.
- Streaming success doesn’t equate to fair compensation for the writers and actors, highlighting an issue in the ongoing strikes.
The most-watched series on Netflix currently is Suits, a legal drama that ended four years ago. Created and written by Aaron Korsh, Suits debuted in June 2011 and originally aired on the USA Network. It began by focusing on Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a college dropout who never attended law school, and Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) as they successfully win and close cases while also hiding Mike’s secret. Running for nine seasons and 134 episodes, the drama also starred Rick Hoffman, Meghan Markle, Sarah Rafferty, Amanda Schull, and Gina Torres.
Nielsen‘s weekly streaming rankings confirm that Suits took the No. 1 spot for the week of June 19-25. Nielsen’s numbers show that the series was watched for 2.3 billion minutes during the aforementioned period, which marked the first full week of Suits being available on Netflix. Although it should be noted that the 2.3 billion figure also accounts for Suits‘ viewership on Peacock, where the show is also available, it’s still the first time in almost four months that a title has crossed the two billion mark on the Nielsen Streaming Top 10. The last series to do so was Netflix’s The Night Agent.
How Suits’ Success Connects To The Ongoing Hollywood Strikes
Suits is only the latest acquired program to make a big impact on Nielsen’s streaming charts, with other dramas like Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, and The CW’s All American being mainstays on the charts. Other popular titles include Supernatural and Gilmore Girls. There are a lot of theories as to why older series, or at least more established shows, perform strongly. One theory is that, with the revolving door of new shows that debut every month, viewers would rather dive into something familiar that has a lot of episodes.
One aspect that does not seem to be in dispute is that streaming success is not reflected and shared with those who created the work. The Night Agent creator Shawn Ryan, after creating one of Netflix’s biggest hits, confessed that the success didn’t actually equate to any major financial bonus. Grey’s Anatomy‘s Ellen Pompeo made a similar point, calling out Netflix over residuals. The streaming rankings and Netflix’s Top 10 lists should not just be an opportunity for streaming platforms to boast about their viewership. It should also lead to fair compensation for those involved in creating the most popular shows.
That fair compensation would not only go to the top producers and cast members. It’d also benefit the unknown guest actors and staff writers, many of whom depend on residual payments to carry them between jobs. While it’s cool that Suits is now another show that gets a bump from streaming on Netflix, that should go back to the people that made the series possible.
Source: Nielsen