‘Bridgerton’ Breaks Another Netflix Viewing Record—But Doesn’t Come Close To Matching ‘Squid Game’ - Forbes

Topline

The second season of the period romance drama Bridgerton has drawn more viewers in a single week than any other English-language show on Netflix, the streaming service announced Tuesday, though it was watched less than half the time that Squid Game was at its peak.

Key Facts

Viewers watched 251.74 million hours of season two of Bridgerton between March 28 and Sunday.

Squid Game, the Korean-language drama that took Netflix by storm in September, holds the record for the most hours watched in one week on the platform, with a whopping 571.76 million hours between September 27 and October 3.

The English-language record was previously held by another Netflix original, Inventing Anna, which was viewed for 196 million hours between February 14 and 20.

Big Number

193 million. That’s how many hours of season two of Bridgerton were viewed the weekend after its March 25 premiere, garnering the most successful opening weekend of an English-language show on the platform.

Key Background

Based on a series of novels by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton depicts the marriage matching scene of London’s elite class during the Regency era. Known for its diverse cast and spicy scenes, the show was a breakout hit after its December 2020 premiere. The first season depicted the love story between Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, who were portrayed by Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page respectively. The second season focused on the courtship of Daphne’s oldest brother Anthony (portrayed by Jonathan Bailey) with Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) and his romance with her sister Kate (Simone Ashley). Netflix has renewed Bridgerton for two additional seasons, though producer Shonda Rhimes said the show is “not necessarily” going to follow the storytelling order of the books. Ashley confirmed that she and Bailey will return for season three, unlike Page, who did not appear in the second season.