\n<\/p>\n
Last year, studios continued to pull back how much they spend on new TV shows. A pair of strikes effectively shut down Hollywood for several months, disrupting new releases of television shows and movies.<\/p>\n
And yet Americans kept on streaming.<\/p>\n
The time that people watched streaming services from their TV sets last year jumped 21 percent from 2022, according to a year-end review on streaming trends by Nielsen, the media research firm. There were nearly a million television shows and movies for Americans to choose from on over 90 streaming services.<\/p>\n
What did they watch? A lot of reruns, it turns out.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at some of the trends.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s well established<\/a> that \u201cSuits,\u201d the USA Network\u2019s legal procedural that aired from 2011 to 2019, was an unexpected streaming hit last year. Netflix subscribers began devouring it over the summer. They shattered records in the process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSuits,\u201d with 57.7 billion minutes of viewing time in 2023, eclipsed both \u201cThe Office\u201d in 2020 and \u201cStranger Things\u201d in 2022 (when its fourth season was released) as the most-streamed show on television sets in a single year, according to Nielsen. (The research firm began releasing yearly figures in 2020.)<\/p>\n \u201cSuits\u201d was probably new to most viewers who watched it on Netflix, said Brian Fuhrer, a senior vice president of product at Nielsen.<\/p>\n \u201cFor all intents and purposes, \u2018Suits\u2019 was an original on Netflix because that viewing cohort, you know, certainly didn\u2019t watch it on USA,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it flows on this really broad footprint across Netflix, it might as well be an original.\u201d<\/p>\n The show\u2019s influence could last for years. Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive of Netflix, recently speculated that because of the show\u2019s popularity, networks and studios would begin ordering \u201ca bunch of lawyer shows.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCocomelon\u201d enjoyed the No. 1 position for children\u2019s shows for each of the previous two years.<\/p>\n Not anymore. \u201cBluey\u201d is now the king of children\u2019s TV shows, with 43.9 billion minutes streamed in 2023, comfortably outpacing \u201cCocomelon.\u201d<\/p>\n Children\u2019s shows rely on a nearly endless diet of repeat viewing, and Mr. Fuhrer said there was probably \u201csome degree of burnout\u201d with \u201cCocomelon.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a caveat: \u201cBluey\u201d is more popular with slightly older children \u2014 ages 6 and up, Mr. Fuhrer said. \u201cCocomelon\u201d is more popular with children who are 5 or under. The catch? Nielsen only tracks viewers who are 2 or older.<\/p>\n It is no secret that older network shows are popular on streaming<\/a>. Year after year, shows like \u201cNCIS\u201d and \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d populate Nielsen\u2019s most-streamed lists. (And they all benefit from having hundreds of episodes, driving up the total watching time.)<\/p>\n But the share of older shows went up even more last year. \u201cFriends,\u201d for instance, had 14 billion minutes\u2019 worth of streaming time in 2022. But last year, the show, which streams on Max, was streamed for 25 billion minutes. (The series exploded in popularity<\/a> after the unexpected death of one of its stars, Matthew Perry, in October.)<\/p>\n Original shows were less popular. Last year, the 10 most-watched original shows accounted for 134 billion minutes of viewing time, a 32 percent decline from the top 10 originals in 2022.<\/p>\n Studios are again freely renting out TV shows to Netflix<\/a>, after years of holding back content for their own streaming services, and that was a factor, too, Mr. Fuhrer said. Warner Bros. licensed \u201cYoung Sheldon\u201d to Netflix in November, and the show quickly started putting up huge numbers.<\/p>\n\u2018Bluey\u2019 Dominates \u2018Cocomelon\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018Friends\u2019 Got \u2026 More Popular?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n