New research from Ampere highlights how new season releases boost the viewing of older seasons, particularly for Scripted series. Analysis of a basket of shows debuting new seasons on Netflix in H2 2023 revealed that older seasons of these shows saw an average increase of 86% in viewing hours on H1 2023. Titles without a new season saw a natural viewing decline of 46% over the same period.

New releases are hugely impactful and draw the largest viewership for Netflix. 2023 releases accounted for over one quarter (26%) of TV season viewing hours that year. However, new seasons also add value to older seasons by attracting first-time viewers and encouraging repeat viewing from existing fans. 

Scripted series were the main beneficiaries of this wider trend , with original French Crime & Thriller series Lupin – which released Part 3 in October 2023 – seeing the most significant increase. Viewing hours for Part 1 and Part 2 soared from 33m in H1 2023 to 165m in H2 2023, a five-fold increase.

Unscripted series – while still positively impacted by the arrival of new seasons – don’t benefit as much. The average Unscripted show with a new season saw a 7% decline in viewing compared to H1 2023, versus a baseline fall in viewing for Unscripted shows with no 2023 release of 63%. So while new releases may not be able to uplift Unscripted titles’ viewing as strongly as Scripted, they can still slow the natural decline in series viewing over time.

The boost from new releases also extends to related titles. Animated series One Piece saw a viewing uplift of 67% in H2 2023 with the release of Netflix’s live-action series of the same name. Squid Game recorded a 32% increase for H2 2023 with the release of the Reality spin-off Squid Game: The Challenge.

With streaming business models increasingly focused on ad-supported tiers, viewing volumes are crucial for attracting advertisers and generating ad revenue. This makes returning series an attractive prospect to these companies, as they can help sustain engagement for older seasons long after release.