2024 has been the year of the Brits on Netflix.
The streamer’s CEO Ted Sarandos has just revealed that the top four most-watched shows on the platform in the first half of this year were all made in the UK.
Episodes of Fool Me Once, Bridgerton, The Gentlemen and Baby Reindeer were watched a combined total of 360 million times in H1 2024, he said at the RTS London during a keynote.
The figures will be contained in Netflix’s next big data dump, which will come out later this week and feature stats from the first six months of 2024.
Deadline reported on Digital-i research in August that found American audiences had flocked to British content since the WGA and SAG strikes, with viewing to UK shows and movies on Netflix and Prime Video skyrocketing by 40% between Q2 2023 and Q1 of this year.
We can reach 25%
Sarandos was at the RTS praising the British industry, which he described as “one of the best countries in the world for TV and film.”
He hailed “great PSBs and institutions that nurture British talent and creativity,” along with “constantly supported regulations” mixed with a lucrative tax credit.
He was speaking as Netflix unveiled a first-look deal with Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd. Intriguingly, Sarandos described the controversy around the Emmy-winning show as “uniquely British.”
Netflix still only has around 10% of the UK audience share, well behind the BBC, and Sarandos said “there’s no reason we couldn’t take 25%” as long as Netflix “keeps the audience upfront.” That figure would put Netflix on a par with BBC One in the nation.