Netflix has taken peak TV to a new peak.
In a data point sure to fuel more quantity-versus-quality debate, Netflix broke its own record for number of original episodes released in a single quarter — with 1,026 in the third quarter of 2022, according to a tally by Wall Street firm MoffettNathanson.
That’s more than five times any other streaming rival: Amazon Prime Video and Hulu released 223 and 194 episodes, respectively, and Disney+ debuted 140 original episodes, per the report. HBO Max, now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, released 114 episodes in the third quarter — significantly fewer episodes than usual and comprising the lightest slate for the service since Q2 2020, the second quarter after launch. WBD has been paring back HBO Max’s content slate in recent months as it looks to cut costs.
All told, Netflix premiered 159 original and exclusive shows in Q3, topping its previous high-water mark of 143 in Q4 2021 (which totaled nearly 900 episodes). Top TV titles Netflix premiered in the most recent quarter include Ryan Murphy’s “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” starring Evan Peters, which in its first three weeks has become the second most viewed English TV show on Netflix (after “Stranger Things 4”).
Other buzzy releases were Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” “Cobra Kai” Season 5, “Locke & Key” Season 3 and docu-series “How to Build a Sex Room.” In addition, Netflix dropped the final two episodes of “Stranger Things 4” on July 1 — a bid to pull fans of the show into its Q3 subscriber numbers.
Netflix’s big surge in Q3 came after a slowdown in output related to production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the bump comes as the U.S. streaming market has plateaued at 81% of U.S. households, according to survey data from HarrisX commissioned by MoffettNathanson.
“Streaming’s penetration of American households has hit maturity, as has nearly every individual service
except for the newest entrants of Peacock and Paramount+,” the firm wrote in its Q3 SVOD Tracker report. “Streaming services are no longer vying to add customers new to streaming, but rather to add (and keep) customers already within the streaming ecosystem.”
Netflix has taken a “something for everyone” strategy, as Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos has said — although that doesn’t mean everyone will be a fan of everything on the service. (Indeed, watching more than 1,000 episodes in a 90-day span would be virtually impossible.) According to the streamer, customers on average watch six different genres every month, ranging from drama to horror and from comedy to kids.
So Netflix, by releasing five times as much raw TV tonnage as its nearest competitors, is looking to cover the waterfront with stuff that appeals to a variety of tastes. But, of course, quantity isn’t everything, as the MoffettNathanson team pointed out: Amid its lower-than-usual volume of originals in Q3, HBO Max released “The House of the Dragon,” the “Game of Thrones” prequel series that was heavily marketed and has been a strong ratings draw. As of Sept. 20, “HOTD” Season 1 was averaging 29 million viewers per episode across all platforms.
Meanwhile, note that the episode counts don’t include licensed second-run shows. For Netflix in Q3, those included the CW’s “Riverdale” Season 6, “The Flash” Season 8, “In the Dark” Season 4, “Dynasty” Season 5 and “Roswell, New Mexico” Season 4. Also during the quarter, Netflix released Season 6 of the ever-popular “CoComelon” preschool series from Moonbug Entertainment.
Netflix’s Q3 lineup of original TV shows spanned scripted, unscripted/reality, kids and documentary formats, and includes a number of international productions. Some of Netflix’s non-English productions have been significant draws, including five Korean shows that debuted in Q3 like “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “Alchemy of Souls,” “Little Women,” “Young Lady and Gentleman” and “Narco-Saints” — which have consistently been in Netflix’s Top 10 Non-English TV rankings for the last five weeks.
Here’s the list of TV shows released by Netflix in Q3 (all are first seasons unless otherwise indicated):
July 2022
- Alba
- Alchemy of Souls
- Another Self
- Attack on Pearl Harbor: Minute by Minute
- Backstreet Rookie
- Bad Exorcist (Seasons 1-2)
- Big Timber (Season 2)
- Blown Away (Season 3)
- Boo, Bitch
- Capitani (Season 2)
- Car Masters: Rust to Riches (Season 4)
- Case Closed: Zero’s Tea Time
- Change Days (Season 2)
- Control Z (Season 3)
- Country Queen
- Detective Conan: Zero’s Tea Time
- DI4RIES
- Dream Home Makeover (Season 3)
- Extraordinary Attorney Woo
- Fanático
- Forged in Fire (Season 8)
- Gabby’s Dollhouse (Season 5)
- How to Build a Sex Room
- How to Change Your Mind
- Hurts Like Hell
- Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (Season 5)
- Keep Breathing
- King of Stonks
- Komi Can’t Communicate
- Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight
- Lego Ninjago (Season 5)
- Married at First Sight (Season 11)
- Mom, Don’t Do That!
- My Unfamiliar Family
- No Regrets in Life
- Oggy and the Cockroaches: Next Generation
- Oh My Baby
- Pororo & Fairy Tales
- Rebel Cheer Squad: A Get Even Series
- Remarriage & Desires
- Resident Evil
- Ride on Time (Season 4)
- Sintonia (Season 3)
- StoryBots: Laugh, Learn, Sing (Collection 2 – Learn to Read)
- Stranger Things (Season 4 – Volume 2)
- Street Food: USA
- Sunny Bunnies (Seasons 5-6)
- The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem (Season 2)
- The Flash (Season 8)
- The House of Dark Secrets
- The Longest Night
- The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch
- Uncle From Another World
- Uncoupled
- Virgin River (Season 4)
August 2022
- A Clean Sweep
- A Model Family
- Ancient Aliens (Season 4)
- Angry Birds: Summer Madness (Season 3)
- Big Tree City
- Cafe Minamdang
- Chad and JT Go Deep
- Change Days
- Club América vs Club América
- Deepa & Anoop
- Delhi Crime (Season 2)
- Drive Hard: The Maloof Way
- Echoes
- Endless Night
- Family Secrets
- Glow Up: The Next Make-Up Star (Season 4)
- Good Morning, Verônica (Season 2)
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (Season 3)
- High Heat
- History 101 (Season 2)
- I Am a Killer (Season 3)
- Indian Matchmaking (Season 2)
- Instant Dream Home
- Iron Chef Brazil
- Junior Baking Show (Season 6)
- Kakegurui Twin
- Kleo
- Lady Tamara
- Locke & Key (Season 3)
- Ludik
- Mighty Express (Season 7)
- Mo
- Never Give Up
- Never Have I Ever (Season 3)
- Partner Track
- Pawn Stars (Season 13)
- Polly Pocket (Season 6)
- Queer Eye: Brazil
- Riverdale (Season 6)
- School Tales the Series
- Selling the OC
- Super Giant Brothers
- Superbro (Seasons 1-2)
- Team Zenko Go (Season 2
- Tekken: Bloodline
- The Cuphead Show! (Season 2)
- The Girl in the Mirror
- The Sandman
- Top Gear (Seasons 29-30)
- Under Fire
- Unsuspicious
September 2022
- Ada Twist, Scientist (Season 3)
- Bastard!! -Heavy metal, Dark Fantasy- (Season 1 – Part 2)
- Bee and Puppycat
- Buy My House
- Call the Midwife (Season 11)
- Chef’s Table: Pizza
- Cobra Kai (Season 5)
- Cocomelon (Season 6)
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
- Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
- Dated & Related
- Designing Miami
- Devil in Ohio
- Diary of a Gigolo
- Dogs in Space (Season 2)
- Dynasty (Season 5)
- Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga
- El Rey, Vicente Fernández
- Entrapped
- Fakes
- Fate: The Winx Saga (Season 2)
- Floor Is Lava (Season 3)
- Flower of Evil
- Fortune Seller: A TV Scam / Wanna
- Go, Dog. Go! (Season 3)
- Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance
- Heartbreak High
- Human Playground
- I Survived a Crime
- In the Dark (Season 4)
- Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer
- Inside the World’s Toughest Prison (Season 6)
- Intervention (Season 21)
- Iron Chef: Mexico
- Jamtara – Sabka Number Ayega (Season 2)
- Karma’s World (Season 4)
- Little Women
- LOL House of Surprises
- Love Between Fairy and Devil
- Love Is Blind: After the Altar (Season 2)
- Merlí. Sapere Aude (Season 2)
- My Little Pony: Make Your Mark (Chapter 2)
- Narco-Saints
- Off the Hook
- once Upon a Small Town
- only For Love
- Phantom Pups
- Power Rangers: Dino Fury (Season 2 – Part 2)
- Roswell, New Mexico (Season 4)
- Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles (Season 2)
- Santo
- Sins of Our Mother
- Snabba Cash (Season 2)
- Story Time Book: Read-Along
- Terim
- Thai Cave Rescue
- The Brave Ones
- The Empress
- The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives (Season 2)
- The Girls at the Back
- The Great British Baking Show (Collection 10 / Season 3)
- The Imperfects
- The Least Expected Day: Inside the Movistar Team (Season 3)
- The Lørenskog Disappearance
- The Wiggles: Ready, Steady, Wiggle! (Season 3)
- The Wiggles’ World
- Too Hot to Handle: Brazil (Season 2)
- Who Likes My Follower?
- You’re Nothing Special
Pictured above: Evan Peters in Netflix’s “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”
