‘Dahmer’ Becomes 3rd Series In Netflix History To Surpass 1 Billion Viewing Hours

Remember back in September when Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story came onto the scene and almost single-handedly disrupted the streaming landscape? Apparently, it’s still doing that. Today (December 5), Netflix revealed that Dahmer has surpassed a jaw-dropping 1 billion viewing hours.

There’s certainly reason to be skeptical of these numbers. At this point in the company’s history, all of Netflix’s numbers are self-reported. Because of this, we don’t know how many people start a series and never finish it, and this metric doesn’t highlight households that rewatch shows or movies. But even with those caveats, this revelation is notable.

Dahmer is currently the third title in Netflix’s history to cross the billion hour viewing mark after only 60 days. It’s also only the second English-language title to do so. The only titles to hit this milestone have been Squid Game and Stranger Things 4. According to a press release from Netflix, Dahmer spent seven weeks on the Netflix Global Top 10 and reached the Top 10 list in 92 countries. The series also broke a Nielsen record and stands as No. 7 on the firm’s list of all-time highest single-week viewership in the United States. It also held a spot on Nielsen’s weekly streaming chart for three weeks.

Even more impressively, the show that eventually upset Dahmer as No. 1 on Netflix was another drama from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. Weeks after Dahmer premiered, The Watcher took over that coveted spot, making it Murphy and Brennan’s second No. 1 series in four weeks. It should also be noted that Murphy’s Mr. Harrigan’s Phone has ranked among Netflix’s Top 10 Films in 91 countries. But this big fish in this particular pond is Dahmer. 

Press releases like these inspire a lot of eyebrow raising, largely because of how selective streamers are when it comes to their self-reported numbers. But thanks to the Global Top 10,  Netflix has been publicly pitting its own library and shows against each other for months now. Because of this history of comparisons, this press release does give us some insight into this highly secretive company. Dahmer was indisputably a massive hit for the streaming giant. It’s no wonder that Monster has already been renewed for two more seasons.