Cancelled Netflix show is one of the streamer’s most-watched titles

Series achieved 184 million viewing hours

One of Netflix’s most-watched shows is one that was cancelled shortly after its release, according to new figures released by the streamer.

The numbers revealed on Thursday (23 May) detail the service’s top films and TV series for the period of July to December 2023.

In a push to provide a wider picture of what audiences are enjoying, the list includes thousands of programmes along with their views, runtime and hours viewed, rather than just the top performers. It comes as Netflix is poised to buy the most divisive film to air this year at the Cannes Film Festival.

According to “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report”, audiences watched 90 billion hours of content in the 6 month period, with 183 billion hours of watch time for the whole year.

And a cancelled show was among one of its most-watched.

Action-comedy series Obliterated was one of the highest ranking titles among thousands of entries, with 184 million hours of viewing time and 21 million views in the six-month period covered by the report, beating the likes of Bridgerton, Stranger Things, The Crown and Squid Game.

Netflix cancelled the show after just one season, which came out only a few months ago on 30 November.

The series spent six weeks in the Netflix Top 10 for English-language series, peaking at No 1 in Week 2.

The cast of ‘Obliterated’ which has since been cancelled (URSULA COYOTE/NETFLIX)

Starring, Shelley Hennig, Alyson Gorske, Nick Zano and Kimi Rutledge, the Obliterated followed an elite special forces team that thwarts a deadly threat to Las Vegas.

After their celebratory party, filled with booze, drugs and sex, the team discovers that the bomb they deactivated was a fake. The now intoxicated team has to fight through their impairments, overcome their personal issues, find the real bomb, and save the world.

The series was originated by Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald – also the team behind the Harold & Kumar franchise, Hot Tub Time Machine, American Reunion and Blockers.

On 1 February, the streaming service, which is continually adding and removing new titles unveiled a preview of its upcoming slate on which the show was not mentioned.

Although there was speculation that the show had not achieved a high enough viewership, others have suggested high production costs are likely to blame for the cancellation.

Meanwhile, Sex Education’s fourth season, racked up 374 million views and was the highest ranking title to air its final instalment.

Further details of the report can be found here, with the full list of films and series available here.