Wednesday Season 2 Wraps With Viewership 50% Below Season 1

Wednesday season 2 did big numbers on Netflix, just not season-1-level big. It wrapped its first 91 days on the service as the fourth most-watched English-language series in Netflix history. Impressive. But there is a catch.

The numbers

• Season 2 pulled 928.50 million viewing hours and 119.3 million views in its initial 91-day window, finishing fourth all-time among English-language shows, according to What’s on Netflix.
• Season 1 was a phenomenon: 1,718.8 million hours and 252.1 million views over the same 91-day window.
• That means season 2 dropped 52% in views and 45% in total hours compared to season 1.

Why the drop makes sense

Two things worth remembering before sounding any alarms. First, Netflix split season 2 into two parts. When you chop a release in half, you spread out viewing, and some of that viewing naturally falls outside the neat 91-day window Netflix uses for its leaderboard. Second, season 2 runs a little longer than season 1, which can skew the hours-versus-views comparison in ways that do not translate cleanly to momentum.

Also, context matters: season 1 is the all-time most-watched original English-language show on Netflix. Beating your own record-setting debut is a tall order for any series.

Quick refresher on the show

Wednesday reimagines The Addams Family as a moody, mystery-driven teen drama. Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday Addams, a deadpan prodigy at a school full of outcasts who leans on newly awakened psychic abilities to dig into the creepy mysteries swirling around her. The family itself is dialed up too: each Addams has a supernatural talent, which is a fun twist that season 1 really sold people on.

Season 3 status

Season 3 is already moving forward. The standout new addition: Eva Green is joining as Aunt Ophelia, Morticia Addams’ menacing sister. That is a pitch-perfect bit of casting energy.