Netflix Hit 'Wednesday' Passes Key Milestone: Here's Why Investors Should Be Excited

A new hit show on streaming platform Netflix Inc NFLX centered on a family known for being creepy and kooky. With huge viewership, the hit show was anything but mysterious and spooky for investors and could help boost the company’s current fourth quarter.

What Happened: Released on Nov. 23, 2022, “Wednesday” turned into one of the biggest hits for Netflix, setting the English language record for viewership in a one-week period.

In its first week of availability, the show had 341.23 million hours viewed, passing a record set by the fourth season of “Stranger Things.”

The show has gone on to post impressive figures in the weeks since. From Nov. 28 through Dec. 4, the show had 411.29 million hours viewed. The last week from Dec. 5 through Dec. 11 saw the series top the list again with 269.7 million hours viewed.

Through three weeks of availability, “Wednesday” had now been watched 1.02 billion hours, passing “Dahmer” at 856.2 million hours as the second most-viewed English language series. The series trailed only the fourth season of “Stranger Things,” which was watched 1.35 billion hours in its first 28 days. The non-English language title “Squid Game” holds the all-time record with 1.65 billion hours viewed.

“Wednesday” is unlikely to break the record set by “Stranger Things,” needing more than 300 million hours viewed in its fourth week. Variety noted the first season of “Wednesday” had a run time of 6.8 hours compared to 13 hours for the fourth season of “Stranger Things,” making it an unlikely comparison.

Netflix estimated 150 million households watched “Wednesday,” which was more than half of all subscribers. The fourth season of “Stranger Things” was likely watched by closer to 104 million households in its first 28 days.

Along with “Wednesday,” Netflix also recently released “Harry & Meghan,” a docuseries centered on the lives of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The series was watched 81.6 million hours in its debut week, setting a Netflix record for the first week of a docuseries.

The docuseries was only available for four days of the last tracked week, which could mean it has strong numbers again in its second week, its first full week. Around 28 million households watched all three of the first episodes in the docuseries.

Related Link: Netflix Q3 Earnings Highlights: Revenue, Subscribers Beat Estimates, Company Throws Shade At Streaming Rivals

Why It’s Important: Netflix ended the third quarter with 223 million global subscribers. The launch of an ad-supported plan in the fourth quarter was seen by investors and analysts as a potential catalyst for future subscriber growth.

The company had now turned in several records in the fourth quarter for viewership and a series viewers are likely talking about, creating a potential water cooler show that could lead to additional subscribers.

“Wednesday” was just nominated for several Golden Globes, helping Netflix tie for the lead for streamers with 14 nominations. The show had rated well on IMDb, where it had an 8.4 rating and on Rotten Tomatoes where it had ratings of 72% and 86% from critics and viewers, respectively.

Along with the recent hits, the company was also set to release a third season of hit show “Emily in Paris” on Dec. 21, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” on Dec. 23 and “The Witcher: Blood Origin,” a prequel to a hit series, on Dec. 25.

The company could end the year on a high note with late November and December having some of the company’s biggest hits ever.

In the highly competitive streaming market, Netflix continues to turn out hits every year and likely remains a top option for consumers when it comes to streaming platforms.

NFLX Price Action: Netflix shares were down 0.78% to $317.83 at market close Wednesday versus a 52-week range of $162.71 to $620.61.

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