Netflix destroys House of the Dragon & The Boys with biggest show of summer 2024

Kayla Harrington
Antony Starr in The Boys and Emma D'Arcy in House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon and The Boys have each seen success during their summer runs, but one Netflix series unexpectedly dominated the streaming chart.

Summer 2024 was overflowing with high-quality television, with many making huge comebacks like The Boys Season 4 and House of the Dragon Season 2.

Both shows were generally well-received, with only a few mishaps along the way, so you probably expected them to take the top ratings spots.

However, Bloomberg Business reported that the most watched show of the summer by a wide margin was Bridgerton Season 3 on Netflix.

Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan in Bridgerton Season 3 Episode 6

Despite all three shows containing eight episodes, The Boys and House of the Dragon managed to rake in between 5-10 billion minutes viewed.

On the other hand, Bridgerton Season 3 achieved a grand total of 15 billion minutes in the seven weeks Nielsen used to calculate their results.

This number is particularly staggering as some people believed Netflix’s decision to split the romance drama into two parts would hinder its success with audiences.

However, delaying the gratification of its season finale may have worked in the streaming service‘s favor as Deadline revealed Season 3 Part 1 alone garnered 5.7 billion owned impressions, making it the third most popular project on the English-language list behind Stranger Things and Wednesday.

On top of destroying the viewership figures of its peers, Bridgerton Season 3 also broke a show record as it managed to get 45.05 million views in its opening weekend alone.

However, while The Boys and House of the Dragon didn’t gain the top spot, they did pull in their own wins.

The Boys Season 4 had 55 million total viewers worldwide, according to Amazon, and HBO claims House of the Dragon Season 2 earned 25 million audience members per episode.

For more, check out our guide to the most binge-worthy TV shows, the best shows to stream in September, and all the new true crime and documentaries streaming this month.