For the second time in a month, Netflix topped the weekly television ratings in the United Kingdom. It shows that Netflix is no longer simply an alternative to the mainstream channels, it is providing programming that directly competes with them.
The Thursday Murder Club premiered in some cinemas and a week later on Netflix. It is based on the bestseller by Richard Osman, the television producer, turned presenter, turned novelist. Featuring a cast of British stars, Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie, it is the kind of cosy crime drama that would not be out of place on a public service television channel.
According to Barb data, it was watched by 6.58 million during the last week of August. That made it the most viewed programme of the week, albeit at a time of the year when audiences tend to be smaller. It may make it the first feature-length film to top the ratings in the United Kingdom this century.
It was the second week that month that Netflix topped the ratings. The first episode of season two of Wednesday achieved the same distinction, with an audience of 4.51 million.
The first episode of the Netflix show Adolescence in March became the first online programme to top the weekly ratings in the United Kingdom, with an audience of 6.45 million viewers.
An audience of 6.5 million viewers would once have been mediocre for a television programme in the United Kingdom, but in an age of fragmented viewing it is now something to celebrate.
Nevertheless, it is notable that Netflix is turning out the sort of shows that were once the preserve of broadcasters like the BBC.