Netflix Has Record-Breaking December, Holiday Week Thanks To 'Bridgerton' And 'We Can Be Heroes'

Were you among the many who watched "Bridgerton" or "The Queen's Gambit"? The preeminent streaming giant recently shared new figures from December and insight into some original shows and movies.

What Happened: Netflix Inc.'s NFLX new original series “Bridgerton” is expected to be seen in 63 million households within the first 28 days of its Christmas Day premiere, according to Variety.

“We Can Be Heroes,” a family friendly movie and spinoff of “Shark Boy and Lava Girl,” is expected to be seen in 44 million households since its Christmas premiere.

The company announced that December 2020 was the best month on record for total hours viewed and average hours viewed per subscriber. The week of Dec. 25 through Dec. 31 also set a Netflix record for total hours viewed and average hours viewed per subscriber.

Related Link: Netflix Analysts Positive On 2021 Lineup, Pricing Power Despite Subscriber Miss

Why It’s Important: The numbers from “Bridgerton” could be a big positive for Netflix as the show was led by Shonda Rhimes of Shondland, Rhimes' production company. Known for creating shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “How To Get Away With Murder” for Walt Disney Co's DIS ABC network, Rhimes signed an overall deal with Netflix worth nine figures.

The success of “Bridgerton” follows a trend of shows airing in 2020 ranking as the best original series for Netflix. “The Witcher,” released in 2019, is the top original program for Netflix with 76 million households watching.

The rest of the top six all-time programs come from 2020. Strong numbers from 2020 releases include “Money Heist,” “Tiger King,” “The Queen’s Gambit” and now “Bridgerton” could help Netflix continue strong subscriber growth.

What’s Next: Netflix will report fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 19. The company expects to add 6 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter versus 8.8 million added in the fourth quarter of the prior year.

The company posted earnings per share of $1.74 in the third quarter, which came in below the consensus of $2.13. Third-quarter revenue of $6.44 billion beat the $6.38 billion estimate.

Netflix recorded 2.2 million paid net subscribers in the third quarter. Through the first nine months of fiscal 2020, Netflix added 28.1 million paid members versus 27.8 million adds in all of 2019.

NFLX Price Action: Shares of Netflix are down slightly to $520.80 on Tuesday.