'Cobra Kai' Delivers Strong Viewing Numbers for Netflix

[HARDY]

Netflix's Ratched brought in a sizable audience in its first four weeks, according to the streamer's viewer metrics — and the aqcuisition of Cobra Kai has also paid off.

The Ryan Murphy-produced Ratched, starring Sarah Paulson, clocked 48 million views over its first 28 days of release, Netflix announced Tuesday as part of its third quarter earnings report. It was the top original series of the quarter mentioned in the report, topping The Umbrella Academy (43 million) and Lucifer (38 million).

Ratched was not, however, the top series mentioned in the letter to shareholders. That honor belongs to Cobra Kai, which Netflix acquired after two seasons airing on YouTube and began streaming on Netflix in early September. The company says 50 million member accounts watched at least two minutes of the show in its first 28 days.

Netflix measures viewership by the number of accounts that "choose to watch" a series or feature film by watching at least two minutes of a given title. Its metric is more similar to views on YouTube and other online video services than traditional TV ratings as measured by Nielsen — although Nielsen has also begun releasing weekly streaming rankings, measured by total minutes viewed for a title.

All four of the above shows have made ranked No. 1 in the Nielsen streaming top 10 since the ratings service began releasing weekly numbers in early August.

Feature films also enjoyed a strong quarter, per Netflix's measurement. The Old Guard (78 million views) and Project Power (75 million) — featuring A-list stars in Charlize Theron and Jamie Foxx — drew substantial interest over their first 28 days of release, and Netflix projects 76 million member accounts will watch Enola Holmes (released Sept. 23) in its first four weeks. YA rom-com The Kissing Booth 2 (66 million views) also performed well.

Netflix also noted that it had its two most watched original feature documentaries to date in the quarter: American Murder: The Family Next Door (52 million views over four weeks) and The Social Dilemma (38 million).