The 10 biggest Netflix premieres of 2024
- "Squid Game" season 2 broke records with its premiere in December.
- New shows like "The Perfect Couple" and "Nobody Wants This" were also among Netflix's biggest hits in 2024.
- Only one non-fiction title made the list: the true-crime docuseries "American Nightmare."
Netflix has been dominating the streaming game in 2024 and wrapped up the year with a record-breaking hit.
Its latest premiere, "Squid Game" season 2, just broke the record for most views during its first week of release than any other series in the streamer's history. That record was previously held by "Wednesday" season 1, which skyrocketed to success in 2022.
Even before the highly anticipated premiere of "Squid Game," the streamer had plenty of instant hits this year across genres including romance, drama, comedy, true crime, mystery, and thriller.
Samba TV, a tech company that gathers viewership data from customers with Samba TV-enabled smart TVs, provided Business Insider with a list of the most-watched Netflix premieres in 2024, looking at what shows had the most households viewing them within the first four days of release.
Check out the full list, from least to most-watched, below.
Note: Numbers below only include data collected from Samba TV-enabled devices. Actual viewership totals are much higher.
Viewership: 1,087,328 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "Nobody Wants This" within the first four days of its premiere
The sizzling chemistry between Adam Brody and Kristen Bell took over social media and led to a major influx of viewers heading to the streamer for some good old-fashioned romantic angst.
Netflix ordered a second season weeks after the premiere, and it's expected to film in 2025.
Viewership: 1,122,268 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "Avatar: The Last Airbender" within the first four days of its premiere
The latest live-action adaptation of the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon got middling reviews from critics, but the popularity of its IP trumped any issues with quality.
Fans turned out to watch Netflix's take on "Avatar: The Last Airbender," leading to a quick season 2 renewal.
Samba viewership: 1,252,392 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "Fool Me Once" within the first four days of its premiere
"Fool Me Once" is the latest in Netflix's ongoing partnership with bestselling author Harlan Coben to adapt his popular novels.
It quickly topped charts upon its release on the first day of 2024, and currently sits at No. 8 on Netflix's list of the top 10 most popular shows of all time with 98.2 million views to date.
The success of the mystery thriller, about a woman investigating the apparent reappearance of her dead husband, bodes well for the success of the upcoming series "Missing You," another Coben adaptation coming in January 2025.
Viewership: 1,282,179 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" within the first four days of its premiere
It's no surprise Ryan Murphy's latest based-on-a-true-story drama was a mega-hit for the streamer. Despite (or maybe thanks to) backlash and criticism from the real-life Menendez brothers, "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" was prime watercooler entertainment when it premiered in September.
The show follows in the footsteps of the crime anthology series' also-controversial first season, "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story", which still sits at the No. 3 spot on Netflix's list of most-watched series ever.
A third season, starring Charlie Hunnam as the serial killer Ed Gein, is coming to the streamer.
Viewership: 1,340,483 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "No Good Deed" within the first four days of its premiere
Sheer star power may have been enough to drive eyes to "No Good Deed" earlier this month.
The mystery about a couple trying to sell their home after a tragedy, from "Dead to Me" creator Liz Feldman, featured a stacked ensemble cast from Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano to Luke Wilson and Linda Cardellini.
Interestingly, there's no word yet on whether Netflix is granting it a second season.
Viewership: 1,490,545 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "American Nightmare" within the first four days of its premiere
The horrifying story at the center of "American Nightmare" captivated true-crime fans.
Denise Huskins' boyfriend reported her kidnapping, telling police he'd been bound by an intruder who took Huskins.
When Huskins turned up not long after, authorities became convinced she'd staged the abduction herself β a real-life "Gone Girl" case.
Huskins was later vindicated when the real kidnapper, Matthew Muller, was found and arrested.
Viewership: 1,721,965 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "Griselda" within the first four days of its premiere
Netflix's streak of based-on-a-true-story dramas started off strong in 2024 with the premiere of "Griselda," starring Sofia Vergara as the titular Colombian drug lord.
Despite an initial legal scuff-up with the real Griselda Blanco's sole surviving son (later settled in court), the show was a big hit as viewers turned out in droves to watch Vergara utterly vanish into the role, prosthetics and all.
Viewership: 1,958,636 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "Bridgerton" season 3 within the first four days of its premiere
"Bridgerton" season 3 might have angered some fans who took issue with the way Penelope and Colin's long-awaited romance played out onscreen (and a significant change to a newly introduced character from the books who will be prominent in a later season), but that anger didn't stop them from gobbling it all up after the premiere.
The third installment ranks No. 6 on Netflix's most popular shows list, with 106 million views to date (besting Kanthony's season 2 total of 93.8 million but falling short of season one's 113.3 million views).
Season four is already coming, this time focusing on second-eldest brother Benedict Bridgerton.
Viewership: 2,151,316 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "The Perfect Couple" within the first four days of its premiere
"The Perfect Couple" didn't exactly premiere to critical acclaim, but it still managed to rope in viewers.
Some of them may have been fans of the original Elin Hilderbrand book it was based on, though plenty probably tuned in just to see Nicole Kidman's latest wig. In any event, the by-the-numbers mystery thriller proved to be a hit.
Viewership: 2,237,637 total households opted-in to Samba TV watched "Squid Game" season 2 within the first four days of its premiere
In a surprise to absolutely no one, the long-awaited return of "Squid Game" tops the list of biggest Netflix premieres this year. It even broke records with its debut. According to the streamer, the Korean series raked in 68 million views in the few days since its premiere on December 26, toppling the record for most views for a show in its premiere week previously set by "Wednesday" season 1 in 2022 (50.1 million views).
That number also puts it at No. 7 on Netflix's most popular non-English shows of all time (a list where "Squid Game" season 1 still leads by a wide margin with 265.2 million views). It's also the quickest a show has ever broken the most popular list.
The good news is that fans won't need to wait long for its conclusion, as the thriller is already set for a season three return in 2025.