Last week, politics website The Hill republished a story from one of its sister companies with a simple (but very clickable) headline: “The top streamed shows are almost all old. Why?” The article — a recap of Nielsen’s January snapshot of streaming ratings for 2023 revealing that Suits racked up more minutes of viewing than any other single series last year — was actually pretty straightforward and non-alarmist. The online response, however, was anything but, with ordinary viewers, journalists, and Hollywood writers loudly trumpeting the data as proof audiences have rejected the streaming model of short-run series which wrap up after a few years.
Just one problem: It does no such thing.
Read Full Article »