The most streamed TV shows of 2023 may surprise you

Here's what the U.S. watched most last year on streaming services.
 By 
Meera Navlakha
 on 
Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane, Patrick J. Adams as Michael Ross in a still from 'Suits'.
Credit: Shane Mahood/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

TV streaming records were broken in 2023, with some surprising shows named as the most streamed in the U.S. last year, according to media audience measuring firm Nielsen.

In Nielsen's new report tracking American streaming habits over the year, Suits was crowned a winner as 2023's most popular TV show on streaming.

Suits beat a previous record held by NBC's The Office, which was streamed for 57.1 billion minutes in 2020. Despite running from 2011 to 2019, Aaron Korsh's legal drama saw a massive resurgence in viewership last year, being streamed a whopping 57.7 billion minutes on Netflix after it was added to the platform in June last year. The series famously saw the screen breakthrough role of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.


You May Also Like

The second most-streamed show of last year was the animated children's hit Bluey, clocking up 43.9 billion minutes on Disney+.

Other older sitcoms and dramas comprise much of the rest of the most-streamed list: the rest of it, successively, is NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Cocomelon, The Big Big Theory, Gilmore Girls, Friends, Heartland, and Supernatural. Four of the 10 ten most streamed TV shows on the list are currently on Netflix exclusively, while other three titles stream on Netflix and a few other platforms – like Suits, which appears on both Netflix and Peacock.

None of the top 10 streamed shows originally aired on the streaming platforms where they took off in 2023, which is notable given the year was dominated by the Hollywood writers strikes. However, Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso garnered the most viewership for an original series, with 16.9 million minutes for its third and final season. Netflix's The Night Agent, Ginny and Georgia, Virgin River, and Love Is Blind rounded out the top five originals. But none of these shows, including Ted Lasso, were in the overall top streamed list.

Of course, just because something's popular doesn't make it...good. Here's Mashable's picks for the best TV shows of 2023, regardless of their viewership numbers.

Topics Streaming

Mashable Image
Meera Navlakha

Meera is a journalist based between London and New York. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Vice, The Independent, Vogue India, W Magazine, and others. She was previously a Culture Reporter at Mashable. 

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You
Former Xbox President Sarah Bond breaks silence after surprise exit
Sarah Bond, president of Xbox at Microsoft Corp., during the Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, May 9, 2024


The content creators with the most TikTok followers - see the top 10.
TikTok logo

Tina Fey's first ever 'SNL UK' monologue features some big surprise guests
A man and a woman stand on a stage.

Verizon outage may have impacted 911 calls
The Verizon logo on a building.

More in Entertainment

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Google launches Gemma 4, a new open-source model: How to try it
Google Gemma

NYT Strands hints, answers for April 3, 2026
A game being played on a smartphone.

The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!