The numbers don’t lie: Global Netflix audiences love Aussie TV
The release of global Netflix viewing figures for over 18,000 titles this week shows that Australian television is attracting massive international audiences – with classic and new releases alike finding fans.
For the uninitiated, Netflix released what amounted to a data drop on Wednesday morning: a log of the total viewing hours of some 16,000 titles on their platform for the first six months of 2023.
As Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was at pains to explain to the media, this is not a comparison tool — different shows and movies have different lengths, obviously — but having said that, it remains the only gauge with which to measure the success of programs on Netflix.
So, I trawled the database for a number of Australian television productions — some Netflix partnerships, some ABC shows that dribbled onto Netflix, others classics of the Aussie small screen that have found a fierce following in various corners of the globe (globes have corners, right?) to see how they fared.
First, some comparisons. The most-watched show on Netflix, globally, was The Night Agent: Season 1, which was watched for 812.1 million hours.
The second season of The Office (U.S. version) — a perennial favourite for its rewatchability — was watched for 45.3 million hours. Friends season one logged 46.4 million hours.
A relatively recent, but not particularly rewatchable show, like Emily In Paris, had 161.1 million for its latest season (which debuted in 2022).
A cult documentary series like 2020’s Cheer, season one, was viewed for 2.5 million hours. Tiger King, from that same year, was streamed for 4 million hours.
Again, these are the amount of hours each show was streamed during the first six months of 2023.
Wellmania, an Australian Netflix production, racked up 41.3 million hours of viewing. Given its eight-episode run comes in just over four hours, that’s a lot of people interested in the show, no doubt due to star Celeste Barber’s international fanbase.
The 2022 remake of Heartbreak High was also an international success, with viewers logging an impressive 27.7 million hours during the first six months of 2023.
And, whether it was original viewers out for a nostalgia fix, or fans of the new guard looking to experience the eye-brow-ringed originals, the 1994-99 run of Heartbreak High was also watched for 1.2 million hours.
Speaking of remakes, The New Legends of Monkey (2018), which is an Australian remake of Monkey Magic — a Japanese show from the 1970s that developed a cult following in the 1990s in Australia after being played constantly on the ABC — was watched for 14.5 million hours.
Creepy supernatural series Glitch (2015-2019) — in which dead residents of a small Aussie town begin to rise from their graves — had 37.6 million hours viewed across three seasons; while Netflix’ first-ever Australian original series, 2018’s Tidelands, was watched for 11.9 million hours – five years on from its one-season release. Thriller/drama Pine Gap, from 2018, was streamed for 10.3 million hours.
Australian productions aimed at kids seem to have a big international appeal, too.
The Bureau of Magical Things, a two-season mash-up of Enid Blyton-esque themes (magical worlds and pre-teen investigations), was watched for 25.4 million hours, while season one of Little Lunch, based on the books by Danny Katz, and adapted by husband-wife team Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler, was streamed for 7.7 million hours.
Two seasons of kids detective series InBESTigators were watched for a total of 38.7 million hours, teen drama Surviving Summer logged 12.7 million viewing hours, and 8.5 million hours of Izzy’s Koala World were watched.
Aiming slightly younger, The Wiggles: Ready, Steady, Wiggle was streamed for 9.4 million hours – with season one of The Wiggles’ World adding an extra 2.2 million to the tally.
2006 mermaid classic H20: Just Add Water remains a childhood favourite around the world, streaming for a whopping 68 million hours.
And while we’re on the topic of classics, Kim and Kath was streamed for 5.7 million hours (plus an extra million if you include the films and specials); half a million hours were dedicated to The Secret Life Of Us, plus a million to Please Like Me (and 1.3 million to Upper Middle Bogan) – and 31.5 million hours across eight seasons of Aussie prison drama Wentworth were watched.
Fisk and Utopia were added to Netflix during the season half of 2023, meaning viewing hours for these shows — both of which went well, empirically speaking — will be in the next Netflix data dump.
While the above is just a sampling of Australian programming on the Netflix platform, it demonstrates the reach that local content is given just by appearing on the streaming service.
It also provides a handy measurement tool, should the local industry wish to argue for further investment in the arts – especially as Australia looks for exports that aren’t already on the way out.
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