Pictures: Netflix
Welcome back to another deep-dive run-through of the Netflix top 10s for the week ending October 13th, 2024. This week, we’ll be covering an assortment of shows and movies that made their way into the top 10. We know that The Menendez Brothers story has been dominating headlines and that’s carried over into viewership for the new documentary released last Monday. We’ll also check in on Outer Banks which split up its fourth season and see how The Platform 2 is doing in week 2 (spoiler – not great!).
Note: In this report of Netflix’s hours viewed from October 7th to October 13th, 2024, we’ll use “Complete Viewings Equivalent,” or CVE, expressed in millions. That means we divide the hours viewed announced by Netflix by the runtime of films or series. It allows for better comparisons between films and series, but it’s not an audience metric. It is the minimum number of viewings if they were all complete from the first second to the last of the film or season.
1. Outer Banks splits its fourth season
Outer Banks, one of Netflix’s flagship series, is back with a release split into two parts to fill gaps in Netflix’s schedule. The launch numbers are quite good, with 15.5M CVEs for the first part of season 4. That puts season 4a more or less in line with the launches of the previous two seasons.
But since the CVE numbers for a half-season are mechanically higher in theory than if the entire season had been released, a strong drop-off is also expected in the coming weeks. If we compare this launch to other split-season releases that debuted on a Thursday, we can see that the series ranks more in the B-tier of Netflix shows, behind Bridgerton (far ahead), then You (renewed for a final 5th season), Emily in Paris (renewed for a 5th season), and almost tied with The Witcher (also renewed for a 4th and 5th season, which will be its last).
Based on these numbers, and if we had to venture into a way too early prediction, we can imagine the series’ likely fate: a renewal for a fifth season that will be its last.
2. The Menendez Brothers still rule the charts.
A new record was set this week, specifically for the best launch of a documentary released on a Monday, previously held since January by the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop. True crime has dethroned it, as the companion documentary to the second season of the Monsters franchise by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. Focused on the Menendez brothers, it had a booming start with 22.7M CVEs in 7 days, nearly double the previous record.
3. The Platform 2 stalls on its way up.
The Platform 2 saw a sharp decline in its second week, losing 25% of viewership compared to its launch period. In my dataset, this is one of the ten largest second-week drops for a film released on a Friday.
Understandably, most of the films in this Top 10 are sequels, which attract fans in varying numbers right from the release but often lack the staying power for long-term success. Under Paris can rest easy with its crown as the most-watched international Netflix film of 2024.
4. Lonely Planet is lonely indeed.
Lonely Planet is feeling quite lonely, with only 11M CVEs in its first three days. The romance starring Liam Hemsworth and Laura Dern had an underwhelming start, ranking toward the lower end of launches in 2024.
5. Uprising? Not high enough though.
The historical action film Uprising came from South Korea, and its launch was also fairly average, although it made it into the Top 10 international film launches of 2024. I think this is somewhat disappointing for Netflix, which seems to have big ambitions for the film.
6. Ali Wong is a star.
Ali Wong is solidifying her position as one of the most prominent comedians on Netflix with the release of her latest special, Single Lady. With 2.7M CVEs in 6 days, it had a better launch than Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Sandler, or Pete Davidson this year.
7. Deceitful Love is the international surprise success of the week.
This is the big surprise of the week. The Italian miniseries Deceitful Love (Inganno in its original version) has managed to break through beyond its home territory and into various parts of the world, particularly in Latin America, where the series claims most of its top spots. The result is a very strong launch, nearly the best in its category, with 9.6M CVEs in 5 days. There’s nothing like a Latin romantic drama to get the numbers soaring.
8. Love is Blind: Habibi gets stuck in the pods.
Love is Blind continues its international spin-offs (with Italy announced last week and France reportedly in the works), and the latest to arrive on the service comes from the United Arab Emirates with Love is Blind: Habibi. Interestingly, Netflix released the entire show at once, whereas Love is Blind typically follows a weekly release schedule over 3-4 weeks. Thus, it’s challenging to compare it directly with other variations of the show, but if we compare it to international shows released in a binge format on a Thursday, we can see its launch is somewhat low. It is a bit too early to tell, but this variation could end up like the Japanese one, which was canceled after just one season.
That’s all for this week, feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below.
