Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's much-anticipated £88 million documentary, despite creating a buzz, found itself ranked disappointingly at 211th on Netflix's most-watched list.
This position placed it behind children's films and even award-winning shows like Suits. The documentary delved into Megan's initial meeting with Princess Katherine and showcased Harry making pointed remarks about his father. However, despite the attention it garnered, the documentary failed to secure a spot in the top 200 most-watched Netflix shows from January to June.
Remarkably, the couple's documentary on their exit from royal life managed to accumulate a combined 62 million hours of viewing on Netflix in the first half of 2023. Nevertheless, it faced tough competition from animated films like Hotel Transylvania 2 and Minions: The Rise of Gru , which surpassed it in terms of viewership.
Even long-standing favorites such as Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Emily in Paris, and Outer Banks outperformed the documentary. To provide perspective, 60 million hours viewed equate to approximately 1 million people watching a one-hour episode once.
Surprisingly, the first two seasons of the children's cartoon Peppa Pig collectively garnered over 140 million hours, overshadowing Meghan's old show, Suits, which ranked considerably higher than her recent endeavors. In a curious revelation, Netflix's transparency about content performance was questioned, particularly when it came to Suits, which reportedly had over 45 billion watch minutes but never secured a top-10 position in 2023.
Netflix, facing criticism for its lack of transparency, released figures in a semiannual report, detailing the most-viewed shows between January and June. The first season of the political thriller "The Night Agent" emerged as the top performer, amassing an impressive 812 million hours viewed in just three months.
This figure outpaced the second season of the comedy-drama “Jin in Georgia,” which secured the second spot with 665 million hours viewed in six months. The revenge thriller "The Glory" claimed the third position with 623 million hours watched.
The streaming giant's comprehensive list shed light on the viewing patterns, with the first season of the comedy-horror "Wedding Day" and the period drama "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story" accumulating 507 million and 503 million hours, respectively. However, questions raised about the accuracy of these statistics, with over 18,000 titles and nearly 100 billion hours watched, encompassing almost 4,000 shows from various countries.
As doubts emerge about the credibility of streaming service metrics, the controversy surrounding Meghan and Harry's Netflix show intensifies. Despite a reported two years left in their Netflix contract, Royal expert Richard Fitz Williams suggests an earlier termination, citing the recent setback with Spotify. The success of their Netflix future seems to hinge on their ability to adapt and deliver compelling content, especially after Harry's recent documentary series, "Heart of Invictus," fell short of expectations, possibly due to its extensive five-hour length.
