Although it has plenty of competitors these days, Netflix remains the place most people think of first when they think of streaming. Over the summer of 2024, the service debuted plenty of great shows, but it can be hard to determine what the service’s biggest hits actually were.
Thankfully, we’ve crunched some numbers and delivered that info. Using their publicly available list of the top 10 shows each week, we’ve determined which shows were the most watched this summer between June 1 and August 31. These shows dominated the top 10 for multiple weeks, and racked up views over the course of their dominance. Without further ado, these are the most popular Netflix shows of the summer.
5. American Murder: Laci Peterson — 27.1 million viewers
Fictional TV shows dominated the top five this summer, but American Murder: Laci Peterson proved that there are still plenty of people interested in true crime and, more specifically, in Netflix documentaries about true crime. This docuseries tells the story of Laci Peterson, the woman who was eight months pregnant when she completely vanished.
The case, which received plenty of media attention at the time, gets revisited in detail in this documentary, shining more of a light on the victim than much of the coverage did at the time.
4. Cobra Kai season 6 — 30.8 million viewers
It shouldn’t be a huge surprise that the first part of the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai was a huge ratings draw. This once little-seen YouTube Original has now become one of the biggest offerings on Netflix. It may not get much critical play, but people are clearly still invested in this story and how it will come to a conclusion.
Unlike Bridgerton, Cobra Kai only debuted the first part of its final season this summer, and the numbers for the whole of season 6 are likely to be even bigger than the staggering numbers the show did when it released its first part in July.
3. Supacell season 1 — 33.4 million viewers
A surprise hit for Netflix this summer, the U.K. series Supacell dominated the streaming charts even as it spent much of its run competing with heavy-hitters like Bridgerton. The show follows a group of normal people who find themselves developing superpowers.
The only apparent connection between these strangers is that they are all Black, and they must go from there to figure out why they got these powers and what they’re supposed to do with them. Supacell was a major hit, and is one of the only Netflix shows to debut this year that basically guaranteed itself a second season.
2. Emily in Paris season 4 — 41.3 million viewers
The best evidence that Emily in Paris is a phenomenon is that the show’s fourth season didn’t debut on Netflix until August 15, and even so, the show still came in with remarkable viewership numbers. While the height of the show’s viewership has already passed, the season will likely finish with more than the 41 million people who have already watched it.
Emily in Paris is a show filled with people that the viewers claim to hate, but it remains one of the service’s most addictive series. Given the viewership numbers it continues to command in its fourth season, it seems possible that the show could just run forever.
1. Bridgerton season 3 — 76.4 million viewers
The juggernaut to end all juggernauts, Bridgerton‘s third season has actually amassed more than 90 million views, and has become one of the most-watched shows in the history of the platform. It did the lion’s share of its dominating during the summer of 2024, and is a reminder that the period costume drama with a modern twist remains among the most successful shows in the network’s history.
The show was helped by splitting its third season into two parts, which only further sustained interest in what was already likely to be one of the biggest releases of the year for Netflix.
