LOS ANGELES – American legal drama Suits (2011 to 2019) took the top spot as the most-streamed title ever from another audience favourite, The Office (2005 to 2013), in 2023, while shows on Netflix dominated overall streaming charts, according to Nielsen data.
Suits, which starred Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Meghan Markle and Gina Torres, racked up 57.7 billion viewing minutes in 2023, thanks to its availability on both Netflix and Comcast-owned Peacock.
The Office had generated 57.1 billion viewing minutes in 2020 amid pandemic-induced lockdowns, according to the report.
American actress Sarah Rafferty, who played legal secretary Donna in Suits, told People magazine in December 2023 that she was “gobsmacked” by the show regaining popularity on Netflix more than four years after its finale.
“You can’t really metabolise that in a real-world kind of way,” said Rafferty. “I don’t get it.”
The 51-year-old said it was a sentiment shared by her co-stars, as she revealed the cast group chat’s response: “Somebody sent one of the articles that said ‘billions of minutes’, and everybody was like, ‘Wait, what?!’”
Macht, who played top lawyer Harvey Specter, wrote on Instagram in July: “I’m humbled that the stories we created and produced for nine seasons have been watched and rewatched and will continue to create memories for all who enjoy the fruits of our labour. As Harvey Specter once said, ‘I don’t play the odds, I play the man.’ I’ll take ‘that’ from him.”
Markle, who played savvy paralegal Rachel Zane in Suits before her marriage to Britain’s Prince Harry in 2018, was also delighted by the series’ resurgence.
“It’s hard to find a show you can binge-watch that many episodes of these days, so that could have something to do with it,” the Duchess of Sussex, 42, told Variety magazine in November 2023. “But good shows are everlasting.”
Macht, Adams, Rafferty and Torres reunited on stage at the Golden Globe Awards earlier in January when they presented the Best Television Series – Drama award to Succession (2018 to 2023).
Some of the other widely streamed shows in 2023 were Bluey (2018 to present), NCIS (2003 to present), Grey’s Anatomy (2005 to present) and The Big Bang Theory (2007 to 2019).
Overall, Americans streamed 21 million years’ worth of video in 2023, a 21 per cent jump from a year earlier, as streaming firms continued to pour billions of dollars into new and licensed content to keep audiences hooked to their platforms.
Shows on Peacock, Disney+, Paramount+ and Warner Bros Discovery’s Max were also among those that were widely watched.
The year 2023 was particularly challenging for the American entertainment industry, as strikes from writers and actors stalled production for months.
Despite the strikes, a handful of originals still managed to make it to the market, with Ted Lasso (2020 to 2023) on Apple TV+ leading the charts in the original category and Netflix’s The Night Agent (2023 to present) coming in a close second.
In the movie category, seven out of 10 were animated features that topped streaming charts, with Disney’s Moana (2016) and Encanto (2021) leading the way.
The report also highlighted the dominance of streaming in the United States, especially as high-profile sporting events, like the recent National Football League play-off game between Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, become exclusive to streaming services. REUTERS
