2023 was a weird time for streamers: an elongated writers’ strike left the once-bottomless content well at risk of running dry; certain platforms stumbled in their efforts to become profitable; and high-profile show cancellations rocked fans awaiting follow-up series that would never come.
As new programmes stalled, viewer habits seemed to err towards the familiar: the most popular show last year by some way was Suits, the former USA Network legal drama that first aired in 2011 and closed its final case in 2019, which racked up almost 58 billion minutes of viewing time, according to Nielsen. This figure also marks the highest year-end total ever recorded in all the years that the company has released annual streaming totals, eclipsing the previous record of 57.13 billion set by The Office in 2020.
