Netflix subscribers can’t get enough of the Regency-era world of Bridgerton, the two seasons of which that are available on the streamer accounted for more than 300 million hours viewed globally for the 7-day period that ended on April 3.
That’s according to Netflix’s latest global Top 10 ranking, which the streamer publishes every week on Tuesday. Granted, what constitutes a “view” has always been a bit of a fungible metric at Netflix. But all things being equal, it sure looks like the record-breaking drama from Shondaland remains one of the biggest hits in Netflix history. No wonder the streamer has already green-lit a third and fourth season, in addition to a spinoff that amounts to an origin story for the show’s Queen Charlotte.
Why is Bridgerton so popular?
The swoon-worthy romance, the attractive leads, the gorgeous costumes, and sumptuous period visuals — you could point to so many reasons for Bridgerton’s staggering popularity among Netflix subscribers around the world. Smithsonian Magazine thinks part of the answer also lies in the steadfast novelty of old-fashioned ideas about courtship.
“Part of the reason why Regency-era television and streaming is so popular,” the magazine notes, “is that it’s an era where people have a lot of ideas about how romance was back then — not all of them historically accurate. Mr. Darcy, communicating in letters … that notion of old-fashioned romance is an enduring one, for better or worse.”
Netflix Top 10 TV shows
It’s really no surprise that Bridgerton season two is once again atop Netflix’s Top 10 global ranking for the second week in a row (and for what amounts to Bridgerton’s first full week in the ranking).
Last week (on Tuesday, March 29), Bridgerton’s second season had only debuted four days earlier. Nevertheless, it debuted on the prior global Top 10 list having already racked up a little more than 193 hours viewed globally. Again, with less than a full week of streaming under its belt at that point.
This week, with the data current through Sunday, April 3, Netflix subscribers had spent more than 251 million hours bingeing the show’s second season. And the other fascinating data point reflected in the list below? The #2 show on the list this week is none other than Bridgerton season one — which still managed to more than double the total number of hours watched for the #3 show, Is it Cake?
Without further ado, these are Netflix’s Top 10 English-language shows globally, for March 28-April 3:
- Bridgerton, season two — 251.7 million hours viewed
- Bridgerton, season one — 53 million hours viewed
- Is it Cake? — 26.5 million hours viewed
- Inventing Anna — 21.9 million hours viewed
- The Last Kingdom, season five — 19.1 million hours viewed
- Top Boy, season two — 16.4 million hours viewed
- Pieces of her, season one — 16.2 million hours viewed
- Top Boy, season one — 13.2 million hours viewed
- Vikings: Valhalla, season one — 10 million hours viewed
- Taboo, season one — 8.3 million hours viewed
More Netflix coverage: For more Netflix news, check out our coverage of the latest new Netflix movies and series to watch.
