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The power of Polin! Bridgerton season 3 scores series' most-watched debut weekend

Bridgerton fans can't get enough Polin!
Bryce Olin
Bryce Olin

Netflix Life

Bridgerton. (L to R) Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton, Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington in episode 301 of Bridgerton. Cr. Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2024

Bridgerton season 3 is officially the biggest opening weekend in series history at Netflix. According to a report from Variety, Netflix revealed that season 3 earned 45.1 million views over its first four days on the streaming service. That's up from just over 22 million for season 2.

I mean, the people love Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). What can we say?

It's a little bit too early to predict how season 3 will stack up historically compared to other Netflix shows. Netflix has changed the way they report viewership a few times in the company's history, but there's no denying that Bridgerton season 3 is on its way to a Netflix Top 10 finish all-time.

For that, Netflix tracks data over the next three months for Bridgerton season 3. Then, we'll see how it stacks up against seasons of Wednesday, Squid Game, Stranger Things, and the most popular Netflix seasons.

Officially, Squid Game, Wednesday, and Stranger Things season 4 are the most popular Netflix shows of all time. Squid Game and Wednesday topped over 250 million views in that span, while Stranger Things season 4 totaled about 140 million views. Views are defined as the total hours watched divided by the runtime of the season.

According to Variety, Bridgerton season 3 already racked up more than 160 million hours watched, but only four episodes have been released. Part 2 premieres on June 13, and we have to assume those four episodes are another four-ish hours.

Looking at those numbers, I would imagine that Bridgerton season 3 is going to give Stranger Things season 4 a run for its money. We'll just have to wait and see.

Knowing how Netflix calculates views, Bridgerton season 3 is basically the most popular season in franchise history. Bridgerton season 1 ranks fourth with a tad more than 113 million views while Bridgerton season 2 ranks ninth with almost 94 million views on the all-time Netflix Top 10 for English shows.

Heading into Bridgerton season 3, it just felt like people cared more about this show than ever before. Coughlan and Newton have been all over the world on the press tour. Hopefully, they get a break soon, but it just shows how invested fans are in this show. They can't get enough Polin!

We'll keep you posted on Bridgerton season 3 viewership over the next few weeks and months. If viewers keep tuning in, it's going to be breaking even more records!

Bryce Olin

Bryce Olin

Bryce Olin is the Entertainment Content Director for FanSided, where he oversees daily coverage of the biggest TV shows, movies, and books. After graduating from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism and digital media, Bryce has been a key part of the FanSided network since 2014, where he helped grow Netflix Life into one of the go-to destinations for streaming news, release updates, and recommendations for Netflix shows and movies. Bryce is recognized for his expertise on Netflix’s biggest original hits, including Stranger Things, Wednesday, The Witcher, and Virgin River, and cast interviews with the stars of The Night Agent, Outer Banks, Orange is the New Black, and more. When he’s not analyzing cliffhangers, predicting premiere dates, or sharing the latest Netflix shows and movies that readers need to watch, Bryce is usually having a good time all the time with his family, friends, and dog.