Netflix has its biggest TV hit of the whole year on its hands

A new season of a much-loved show recently arrived on Netflix, and has caused the biggest splash since Wednesday Season 1 way back in 2022.

The show? Bridgerton Season 3. If you want to prove to your friends how important this series is, we have some stats for you, folks.

Netflix’s Tudum website just released the show’s first-week viewing figures, and they are quite remarkable.

165.2 million hours were spent watching Bridgerton Season 3 between May 13 and May 19.

That’s the highest first-week figure since January 2024 and the release of viral sensation Fool Me Once, which clocked up 238 million hours in week one.

However, Bridgerton Season 3’s popularity is even better than that when you consider it accounts for just half a season’s worth of episodes.

It’s the equivalent of 45.1 million views in a week, sailing past the 37.1 million views of Fool Me Once.

We have to dig way back in the past to find a show that clearly outperformed Bridgerton Season 3.

Remember a little show called Wednesday? In November 2022 it reached an incredible 341.23 million hours viewed in its first week.

Netflix didn’t provide view counts back in those days. But doing our own calculations, it’s equivalent to around 49.9 million views versus Bridgerton’s 45.1 million.

That’s right, even next to the most popular English language Netflix TV show ever (that’s Wednesday, by the way), Bridgerton Season 3 isn’t doing bad.

Maybe we shouldn’t be all that surprised. Bridgerton’s first season is the fourth most popular Netflix show to date, while Season 2 sits at number nine.

If things continue, Bridgerton Season 3 has a good chance of sailing past at least its direct predecessor.

Not checked it out yet? This latest season focuses on Lady Penelope’s love life, and her fractious friendship with Eloise.

At the time of writing only the first four episodes of Bridgerton Season 3 are available, the last four set to land on June 13.

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