According to exclusive numbers provided by Samba TV, 1.7 million households watched the first episode of the show on Netflix during the live-plus-three-day-viewing window since its premiere on January 19. This number is even higher than the 1 million households who watched Netflix's recent hit Harry & Meghan on its first day of release. The show was particularly popular among millennial households, overindexing by 8% amongst adults 25-34 and 4% amongst adults 35-44.
Samba TV's Vice President of Measurement Products, Cole Strain, attributes the show's success to nostalgia and the reboot of the Fox series That '70s Show, which aired from 1998-2006. He states, “Nearly two decades after the final episode of That ’70s Show aired, it’s clear we are ready to return the Formans’ basement as Netflix taps into another piece of reboot magic with That ’90s Show.” That '90s Show is performing better compared to other reboots of shows from similar eras, such as Peacock's Bel-Air, HBO Max’s Gossip Girl and Hulu’s How I Met Your Father, drawing in more than three times, four times, and six times the audience respectively.
It is clear that Netflix's That '90s Show has been well-received by viewers, with 1.7 million households tuning in to watch the first episode, and is likely to keep viewers engaged due to its clever use of nostalgia and original series stars' cameos.