It seems people cannot stop watching Suits, the USA Network drama that premiered back in 2011 when people discovered planking and were still putting feathers in their hair.
When the series dropped on Netflix this past June, the streamer named it among its top 10 TV shows globally. Last week, Neilsen reported that Suits was the most-watched show from June 17 through June 26, with 2.3 billion minutes viewed across Netflix and Peacock.
Per Deadline, Nielsen has reported another milestone for the series: Suits actually scored an uptick in viewership for the week of June 26 through July 2, amassing 3.1 billion minutes viewed. That’s a 36% increase in viewership from the previous week, which is a ridiculous achievement for a show so old that it competed with Angry Birds for our attention.
Nielsen proclaimed that the show has broken the record for an acquired series in one measurement week.
Some people attribute the series’ success to co-star Meghan Markle, who has been the public’s obsession since she started dating Prince Harry (and soon after left Suits, presumably because call times are really early and you can sleep in at Buckingham Palace).
Since returning to the U.S., she and Harry have been popular fixtures at Netflix, earning a $103 million contract to produce content. Their first project was the self-produced documentary Harry & Meghan, which netted 2.4 million views on the day of its premiere.
Reports say that Netflix is balking at paying Markle and Prince Harry more than half their money without the couple supplying more content beyond the documentary. Luckily, Harry has created another series titled Heart of Invictus that is set to release in Aug.
Obviously, Markle’s old content is doing just fine, but we doubt she’s getting residuals — given the complaints of actors amid the SAG-AFTRA strike — so look for a new project from her soon.