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The Future. In 2023, audiences rewarded popular, long-running, throwback shows (Suits, Friends, NCIS) with outsized viewership, turning older series into fresh hits. Partly a consequence of strike delays, a push for committed comfort viewing, and the “Netflix effect,” streamers could start to invest in longer-running series (but fewer overall shows) as a way to both boost engagement and cut costs.
Self-syndication
It seems like people are getting tired of watching shows with only a season or two available.
- According to Nielsen’s rankings, the top 10 most-watched shows in 2023 were all series acquired from networks or cable brands — this includes the big winner of the year, Suits, at a sky-high 52 billion minutes viewed.
- The Top 10 shows logged a cumulative 339.5 billion minutes of streaming — the biggest total in four years (when Nielsen started releasing end-of-year totals).
- This makes it the first time that no streaming originals cracked the Top 10 in four years, even though overall streaming viewership grew by 21%.
Last year’s Top 10 shows were so popular that they accounted for a total of 3% of all streaming in 2023.
It clearly pays off to have hit syndication… but having 100+ episodes ain’t as easy as it sounds.
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