Almost Every Returning English Netflix Series Lost Viewership in 2025, Except One

If 2025 has taught us anything about the current streaming landscape, it’s that retaining viewers is Netflix’s toughest battle. A new analysis from Netflix and Shiffres shows that the recent trend of series struggling to return and outperform their predecessors continues: Nearly every major English-language series returning in 2025 saw declines in viewership.

For years, we’ve tracked the elusive “renewal metrics,” but last year’s data makes one thing clear: audience erosion is the new normal. While Netflix continues to dominate the streaming wars, keeping subscribers glued to their screens for Season 2, 3 or 4 is proving difficult.

Based on a new report from former What’s on Netflix contributor Frédéric, now exclusively Netflix and ChiFreshWe know that seasons of Netflix shows, based on views (equivalent to full viewing) of titles in the first 28 days of release in 2025, saw no change in the trend of declining viewership.

This matches what we saw throughout 2024; Only one major English-language show actually increased its viewership last year bridgerton, The number of titles was slightly higher in 2023.

The methodology here compares the first 28 days of the new season to a comparable time frame from the previous season.

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Anomaly: Strange Things

Display: +2.25%

Defying all industry logic, stranger things The streaming world remains a unicorn. The first batch of episodes of the final season saw an increase of 2.25% compared to season 4. In an era of double-digit downs, the fact that Hawkins’ Crew found a crowd at the end of the game is historic. While the series is coming out, it is doing so at a high level that no other current Netflix Original can claim, yes, not even Squid Game or Wednesday, two of the biggest titles based on Netflix’s all-time catalog, can claim.

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“Sticky” shows: low erosion (<10%)

These shows are “efficiency monsters.” They may not all be global blockbusters on the scale of Squid Games, but their audiences are incredibly loyal. A decline of less than 10% is considered a big win in the current environment.

• Ginny & Georgia (Season 3): Down only 5%. A notable catch that ensured its renewal for Season 4 (and possibly Season 5).
• The Diplomat (Season 3): Down 6.3%. Although it did not reach the blockbuster threshold of “20 million views in 14 days”, the prestige factor and low drop-off earned it a place in Season 4.
• Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black (Season 2): Down 7.9%.
• My Life with the Walter Boys (Season 2): Down 9.6%.

To make a long story short, if you can retain 90% of your audience, you’re almost guaranteed a renewal, even if your raw numbers aren’t stratospheric. What was interesting with all of these titles was that they actually received “early” renewals, that is, Netflix approved quite early on or, at least, began developing new seasons early.

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Danger Zone: Mass Decline (>40%)

This is where things get quite brutal, but in some cases, their drops fall from such a height that they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Audience members at several high-profile shows were bleeding. However, the results of those drops varied depending on what altitude the show began at.

“Too big to fail” group

• The Night Agent (Season 2): Fell 44.7%. It was a massive improvement from its surprise hit debut, but the raw numbers remained high enough to justify a pre-order renewal.
• Wednesday (Season 2): Fell 42.6%. Despite losing a large portion of Season 1’s viral audience, it still surpassed 100 million CVEs. It’s safe to say, though, that reports suggest there may be an ending for Season 3.

save “reputation”

• Nobody Wants This (Season 2): Fell 40.1%. Statistically, it should be on the bubble. However, the Kristen Bell/Adam Brody vehicle performed well at the Emmys, earning it a “Prestige Renewal”.

Flops and cancellations

Meanwhile, shows like recruit Prove that if you lose 40% of your audience and you don’t have the award hardware or massive raw audience to get it back, the algorithm won’t be kind. All of the following were canceled or have already been announced to be discontinued.

• Fubar (Season 2): Dropped 75.9%. has been canceled. The biggest flop of the year. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action-comedy lost three-quarters of its audience, leading to inevitable cancellation.
• The Sandman (Season 2): Dropped 60%. Amidst the long wait and the Neil Gaiman controversy, audiences disappeared.
• The Witcher (Season 4): Dropped 52%. The Liam Hemsworth era started with a bang. Half the audience was lost as a result of alienating the core fan base. The show is limping towards its finale only because it was pre-renewed.

• The Recruit (Season 2): Dropped 42.1%. has been canceled. Unlike Wednesday, Noah Centineo’s spy thriller didn’t have enough figures to avoid a 40% decline.

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Other notable movements

• Emily in Paris (Season 5): Down about 20.5%. The shine is waning, but it remains prominent.
• Black Mirror (Season 7): Down 21.4%. As a compilation, erosion matters less here, but degradation is noticeable.
• You (Season 5): Down 32.1%The series finale came at the right time, as audience fatigue was at its peak,

as it shows tire (-14%) And xo, kitty (-18.5%) Survived because his decay was manageable. There are also shows with limited viewership that did not make the weekly top 10, so we cannot judge accurately. an inside man It looks like it was one of those titles with at least a 40% drop, but could easily fall into the prestige upgrade camp. survival of the fittest And MO The top 10 is also unclear considering their track record.

Are you surprised that only one show grew its audience in 2025? Let us know in the comments.