Netflix Data Dump: The Biggest Bombs (and Hits)

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The streaming giant’s massive May 23 data trove for the second half of 2023 includes almost 16,000 series, movies and specials, which accounted for about 90 billion hours of viewing worldwide. The shows and movies below are … not a big part of that number, to say the least. Rather, they’re some of the higher-profile projects that, relatively speaking, almost no one watched. (For comparison’s sake, some of the biggest titles are also included).

For the six months ended December 2023, viewership at the low end …

Human Resources season 2
Views: 2.5M
Premiered June 9, 2023

The spinoff of Big Mouth had more worldwide views in its first three weeks of release in June (about 3.7 million) than it did in the entire six months between July and December. Netflix had previously announced that the show’s second season would be its last.

Working: What We Do All Day
Views: 1M
Premiered May 17, 2023

What we did not do all day was watch this docuseries produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions (and featuring the former president as narrator and sometime interviewer), either in the second half of the year or in the first six weeks of its release (2.3 million views).

The Netflix Cup
Views: 700K
Premiered Nov. 14, 2023

Its first live sporting event, a golf match involving PGA Tour pros and Formula 1 drivers, at the site of the latter’s Las Vegas race, was hyped — and lightly watched, with only 700,000 views worldwide for its live debut and the six weeks after. That’s fewer views than season five of Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2 million) and the PGA-focused Full Swing (800,000) from July to December, even though both were months old by then.

Mulligan
Views: 700K
Premiered May 12, 2023

The animated series executive produced by Tina Fey (who also does voice work) and Robert Carlock faded from view relatively quickly. Not that it was really ever near the top of the list: It amassed only about 2.1 million views in its first seven weeks of release.

Heart of Invictus
Views: 300K
Premiered Aug. 30, 2023

While the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was part of a Suits library that racked up huge numbers all summer, this docuseries produced by Archewell, her company with husband Prince Harry, went by without notice. The series follows athletes in the Invictus Games, a competition founded by Harry for wounded, injured and sick soldiers and veterans.

And for comparison, for the six months ended December 2023, viewership at the top end…

Leave the World Behind
Views: 121 million
Premiered Dec. 8, 2023

The thriller starring Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke and Mahershala Ali easily had the most views on Netflix — for a series or movie — in the second half of the year even though it didn’t premiere until December. It currently ranks fifth among Netflix’s most popular movies of all time (as measured by views over the first 91 days of release).

One Piece
Views: 71.6 million
Premiered Aug. 31, 2023

The live-action adaptation of the long-running manga and anime had 36 percent more views than the second-ranked show, the German limited series Dear Child (52.5 million views).

Also of note…

Wednesday
Views: 23.9 million
Premiered Nov. 23, 2022

Netflix’s all-time leader in views among English-language series still places among the top 30 shows a year after its premiere. (Squid Game, the top series regardless of language, had 14.1 million views in the last half of 2023, ranking in the top 80.)

The Night Agent
Views: 19 million
Premiered March 23, 2023

The No. 1 overall title (in terms of hours viewed, at least) from the first half of 2023 remained a pretty solid performer in the latter part of the year as well. The spy thriller from creator Shawn Ryan ranked among the top 50 series.