Netflix show pulls in 6 million viewers to soar up charts in 43 countries

Metro

6 hours ago

Netflix's leap into live events has added more firepower to an arsenal that already made the platform the most popular on-demand streaming service in the world. While stand-up comedy and reality shows have both been tested, it's real-time sports coverage that appears to be in Netflix's grand plans following the huge success of Christmas Day's live NFL streams and the acquisition of WWE broadcast rights (Picture: Getty Images) Perhaps its most anticipated live sport event so far was November's boxing clash between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Although many viewers were left furious over constant buffering and streaming issues, Netflix said the highly-anticipated bout pulled in viewers from 60 million households – and the platform has continued to muscle its way into the fight game as streamers threaten to replace more traditional pay-per-view coverage (Picture: Getty Images) The Tyson-Paul fight also provided the platform for a rematch between Ireland's Katie 'The Bray Bomber' Taylor and Puerto Rico's Amanda 'The Real Deal' Serrano, which Netflix says was 'the most-watched professional women's sports event in US history, with an estimated 74 million live viewers globally.' The streamer continued its success on Friday night as subscribers were given access to the trilogy fight for what's been described as 'the fiercest rivalry in women's boxing' (Picture: Getty Images) The weekend's coverage from the headline fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City pulled in more than six million viewers across the globe. Netflix announced that the main event drew an average-minute audience of 4.2 million viewers in the United States alone, hit the top of the most-watched charts in US, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, as well as making the top 10 in 43 countries overall (Picture: Getty Images) Netflix described the event as 'nothing short of epic' and a 'true global moment', announcing it had broken Guinness World Records, with 17 world titles on the line across five championship bouts adding to the scale of the spectacle. Taylor won on the night, as she had in their previous two meetings to make it a clean sweep in the trilogy (Picture: Getty Images) The event was shrewdly picked by Netflix, with fight experts predicting that it could provide the platform to launch women's boxing into a new era. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said after the fight: 'What they did tonight was give so many opportunities to so many great female fighters and big paydays and big opportunities. [Katie] won't ever say it but it's down to her. There's been many more before her but she's the one commercially who's broke down the barriers that have given so many opportunities' (Picture: Getty Images) The next boxing event on the calendar for Netflix will be the blockbuster bout between Mexico's Saúl 'Canelo' Álvarez and undefeated American star Terence 'Bud' Crawford. It will be shown on Saturday, September 13, live from Las Vegas. As part of its 'WWE Premium Live Events', Netflix will also be showing WWE Summer Slam live on August 2 and August 3 (Picture: Getty Images) Netflix's live coverage is set to extend far beyond sport, with NASA announcing at the end of June that it was set to team up with the streaming giant to host NASA+ live programming. It said: 'Audiences now will have another option to stream rocket launches, astronaut spacewalks, mission coverage, and breathtaking live views of Earth from the International Space Station' (Picture: Getty Images)