Netflix is clearly a popular streaming services, with over 93 million subscribers. Although we know how many people pay monthly for the service, Netflix has been less clear about how many viewers are watching each of its original programs, but this week the subscription streaming service did give us a hint about how popular the big Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life revival was.
This week, Netflix CEO Reed Hasting took a conference call with investors, during which he talked about subscriber growth and the company's recent resurgence in the stock market. Within these conversations, he also let slip that Gilmore Girls, among other originals, have been a huge boon to the subscription streaming service. In fact, Gilmore Girls was a Top 10 performer in every single Netflix territory, according to THR, which is a huge feat. It's also a nice supplement to those estimated ratings outside companies have done, and the closest we'll probably get to Netflix actually revealing how many people are watching its originals.
Honestly, I'm actually a little bit surprised by this admission. Obviously, the Gilmore Girls revival was wildly popular in the U.S. market. People spent a ton of time speculating about the show's return online and I anticipated it would do well here in the States. But the strong suit of Gilmore Girls has always been its fast-paced dialogue--dialogue which heavily relies on pop culture reference to be amusing. It's a little astounding to me that the characters have been so popular in numerous places around the world. You would think the humor and the small-town life Lorelei is living may not have translated well across the globe, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Reed Hastings also admitted that 3% was a giant performer for the streaming giant globally and has already been renewed for Season 2. The Brazillian series did have some buzz in the U.S. when it premiered and Hastings said there was some viewership in Netflix's country of origin, but that 3% big success has also helped to shape the direction Netflix is going globally with shows like The Crown, Narcos and more.
We don't know right now if Amy Sherman-Palladino and co. will ever produce a new set of episodes--or a ninth season of Gilmore Girls, depending on how you look at it. However, just knowing that Gilmore Girls was so goshdarn popular for Netflix during its fourth quarter launch does give me hope that maybe someday we will get to see where Lorelei--and especially Rory--go next. We'll keep you posted on whether or not a new series comes into play. In the meantime, you can take a look at Netflix's already-announced dates with our streaming premiere calendar.
