Considering the chaotic royal storylines we’ve been dealing with in the past month, I thought we were due for another emotional-support poll, something along the lines of “99% of respondents believe Prince William will be the best king ever, but only when the other choice is Prince Andrew.” But no, we’re not getting a new poll. The British media was handed this gift-wrapped on a plate by Netflix. Netflix released their viewership numbers for the first half of 2025. The Duchess of Sussex’s With Love, Meghan did not crack the top 300 most-watched shows. WLM sits at #383. Out of 7,000 shows, apparently? Which would still put it in the top 6% most-viewed Netflix shows.
The numbers are in for Meghan Markle’s lifestyle series on Netflix, With Love, Meghan. Netflix released a new Engagement Report on July 17, revealing what Netflix viewers watched in the first half of 2025. According to the report, the Duchess of Sussex’s show, which premiered on March 4, landed at number 383 with 5.3 million views.
Meanwhile, Polo, which was released on Dec. 10 and executive-produced by Prince Harry and Meghan, was watched by 500,000 and ranked at 3,436.
Netflix’s list of most-watched shows by views was topped by Adolescence (145 million), Squid Game’s second season (117 million) and Squid Game’s third season (72 million).
On March 12, a week after the show’s debut, With Love, Meghan ranked tenth on Netflix’s global Top 10 Shows Overview list, having amassed 2.6 million views and 12.6 million hours watched. At the time, it ranked seventh on Netflix’s Top 10 Shows chart in the United Kingdom and tenth on the platform’s Top 10 list in the United States.
I mean, sure? I have no idea what the viewership numbers look like for Food Network programming, but I would imagine that The Barefoot Contessa would LOVE 5.3 million views. That’s how people should make the comparisons – what’s the comparable audience for another female-led cooking/entertaining show? It’s idiotic to compare WLM to Squid Game or Running Point. But that’s just what the British outlets are doing, crowing about how WLM “only” has 5.3 million views. Does anyone have the viewership numbers on the Princess of Wales’s annual Christmas carol show? Last I heard, that show was getting beaten by Eastenders reruns. What about the viewership for Prince William’s homelessness two-part documentary? Or any of his Earthshot programs? Because I seem to recall a lonely tumbleweed blowing through some of the big Earthshot streams. Literally tens of people watching. 5.3 million doesn’t sound so bad now, right?
A few more things… as soon as I saw WLM, I remarked on how inexpensive it was to make for Netflix. This is not some big-budget series shot over the course of eight months – Meghan probably shot the first season in a month or less, and I doubt the production had much more than a crew of 20. Meghan makes things look expensive, of course, and it’s a love letter to scenic California, but a major reason why Netflix is happy with Meghan and happy with WLM is because WLM is probably one of their cheapest productions. That’s why they’ve already filmed a second season and why even the Daily Mail says that Netflix plans to renew the Sussexes’ deal and order more seasons of WLM.
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
The shows bringing larger audiences are also more expensive to make for Netflix. Netflix is a for-profit company. If it didn’t make financial sense, they would stop producing it after the first season, like they did to many many shows.
Yes, a great example is Shonda Rhimes’ “The Residence.” GREAT show, lots of buzz, viral clips, a gay and black fanbase, power production and big named stars both in it already and/or expressing interest in future seasons (“Only Murders in the Building” style). It also has a lot of rewatches (due to going back to catch the clues missed) and lots of word of mouth weeks after it came out, as new people watch, but…
That show was HELLA EXPENSIVE to make. The custom scaled replica of more than half of the White House alone, the senate, the tropical third location, etc. etc. and all those stars over eight episodes.
So it got canceled. Too hard to make a big profit (and the current political environment with everyone screaming “woke” for a black female detective, Korean FBI agents, and black/hispanic supporting cast probably didn’t help—despite the fact that most local DC people working in domestic and coming up on the local DC civil service positions ARE often black).
WLM is very inexpensive to make and thus nearly all profit. It doesn’t need to do blockbuster fiction series numbers to make money, nor would it ever… it’s a lifestyle program. This is the same principle as to why soaps like “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” were canceled despite being profitable and pulling in 2-3X the ratings of the talk shows that replaced them. The talk shows are so cheap, they didn’t need the same ratings to make way more money. This will also protect Meghan from the anti-Woke crybabies…as money and profit speak even louder.
Meghan is making a great program and knocking the socks off in her category. Comparing it to anything else with different standards is disingenuous, but hey…British press.
VERY disappointed by the Residence being cancelled. It was refreshingly different and fun and the acting was superb. I get that it was expensive to produce but I have to think that the current political climate had something to do with it as well.
IMO, it’s really dumb, once you’ve paid for all the sets, to cancel a show.
I’m just here to say I am SO bummed about The Residence being cancelled!! It was awesome (and I’m totally in the camp of wondering about how much of it was politics, see Stephen Colbert being canceled)!
Meghan herself has said on more than once (in print and on podcast) that she had a production crew of about 80.
@Adele, are you suggesting that this would make the show more expensive than the shows like Squid Games?? I am guessing those ones have much much more people working behind the scenes, which would make it more expensive than a cooking / lifestyle show, like I said. What is your point?
@sevenblue, I think she’s saying that Meghan said she had a production crew of about 80.
For a cooking/lifestyle show, this is really good. With ratings like that it was a no-brainer for Netflix to give the second season the go-ahead.
It was the highest placed cooking or lifestyle show on the list. The Chefs kitchen which had lots of high profile chefs didn’t make the top 1000 shows. Lifestyle shows are niche and don’t attract huge viewing figures but they are cheap and quick to make and tie ins like food and drink products and home ware and cookery books means they are money makers. That’ seems to be where Netflix is going with WLM and AsEver. It’s idiotic to compare it to big budget blockbusters.
That’s the first thing I thought when I saw this reporting as well, she was this number out of how many. Being in second place in a two-person race isn’t the same as being second place and 100 person race. Also, you have to judge it against similar programming. There’s no point in measuring a lifestyle show against bridgeton. They have different levels of people interested in it.
But it doesn’t really matter. Everything that Meghan does for the British media is a failure even when she is number one. She could have been in the top 10 and they would have commented on the fact that it was seven other shows ahead of her, which indicates that she’s a failure. Look how they’re trying to minimize her selling out of as ever products it has to be because she’s only selling 20 jars of jam.
For the sake of their own ego and to convince their dwindling audience that they were right to be such gigantic assholes to her from the start, they have to insist that everyone hates her and she’s a failure at everything she touches. Because if they reflect reality then the question of why did we drive her away again, becomes louder.
There was even a resurgence of views for the Harry and Megh doc and it’s been out for a few years. These two have been great for Netflix.
I feel like I have a lot to do with the resurgence of views for the Harry and Meghan doc, I’ve watched it soooo many times 🥰
You know I feel like anytime that Harry and Meghan are presented to a new audience there’s probably an uptick in viewership for the documentary, and probably more people listening to archetypes or getting Spare from the library.
I don’t have any stats, but I imagine last year after Harry won the Tillman award it probably had the same effect. People who weren’t interested in seeing the documentary, or reading Spare or listening to Archetypes because it’s not their sort of thing or they had casually bought into media narratives, but watching the show and enjoying it thinking what else am I missing?
Which is why I think there’s that concentrated effort to review bomb anything either of them do. You can’t have more and more people being exposed to the type of people they actually are rather than the narrative because then they start to look at those headlines with a more discerning eye, even if they don’t read the stories.
Agree and look at how many people watched Suits. I know it would have gotten a lot of views because it’s a good show but I’m pretty sure a lot of people started watching because they were curious about Meghan and then continued watching.
I just looked it up..barefoot contessa had over 10 million views when it first came out and reruns consistently have 6m+ views and she is ranked in the top 2% of food network shows.
The Rachael Ray show had almost 20m viewers daily during its run and was the best performing cooking show in television.
I kept out the numbers for Martha Stewart bc she is the OG and hers are insane.
TV viewing figures for lifestyle shows are very different these days than in the Food Network heyday. The Rachel Ray show actually had 2 million viewers when it first aired so not sure where your fantasy figures come from. When Martha Stewart moved to Hallmark in 2015 her viewing figures were only
199 000. Her latest show ‘Yes Chef’ got an average of 1.434 million on NBC.
The Barefoot Contessa averaged around 1 million viewers in 2021 and was the Food Networks highest rated show so seems like @Kelly is using some fantasy numbers to make Meghan look bad!
ahhh I love the smell of receipts in the morning… thank you Celebitchies 😍
Thank you Julia. Those numbers from Kelly seemed WAY off lol
I think they are slightly different programming as well — people tuning in to WLM aren’t looking for 30 minute meals, they are there to watch Meghan and the aspiration aspect of the show I.e. dried flowers and garden parties which narrow the niche so to speak.
Are they on Netflix with these numbers? If not, it is a moot point. Netflix (a subscription based business) audience is not the same as traditional channels.
@sevenblue these are not real numbers. I looked them up. @Kelly has grossly inflated numbers. Martha Stewart’s show was getting less than 200 000 viewers in 2015. Barefoot Contesssa was getting 1 million in 2021. Ravel Ray got 2 million at her debut. Nice try @Kelly…
Absolutely 👆🏼
Ina’s been on for 28 seasons, 19 of them on the Food Network. It’s one thing to start out on what was then the only cooking channel on cable TV and another to have your first season on a gigantic streamer that’s aimed at a broad international audience. I think Ina is awesome, but this is comparing apples to oranges.
The Netflix viewership is long and I only made it to #1,000, but I think WLM is the only cooking/lifestyle show in the top 1,000.
I also looked up these numbers and I agree with posters that say @Kelly is posting fantasy numbers probably from some Reddit troll forum. I remember when Martha moved to Hallmark in 2015 and it’s true she only got 199 000 viewers.
Meg could cure cancer and they would complain that it’s not enough and that she should have brought those who died from it back to life. Everything Meg does will never be enough. 5.3 million views is not enough for the gutter rats and their racist agenda to do all to try to bring her down.
💯
The Leftover Royals wish they could get those kinds of viewing numbers. They clearly can’t otherwise Meghan’s name wouldn’t be mentioned in every. single. article about the others. If the literal king and his liege man for life were as popular, they wouldn’t need to drag Meghan’s name into everything they do. They know she brings in the clicks and the revenue. And the stale Leftovers don’t.
Absolutely ..no contest .After the Queen went, and she was a piece of living history ,the rest are nothing . Just an ordinary dull as ditchwater family and no amount of window dressing is going to get them the following the Sussexes have . They had one chance, when Meghan came in with her star quality , charm and humanity and the very fact that she is a mix of races gives her an instant connect to the Commonwealth nations . But their stupid jealousy and racism lost them their prize ticket to a new and energized monarchy . Look at the ones left ..they are not even worth looking at . Even the children cannot boost their popularity as they used to , they are no longer little and cute ..people are booing them all as they sail uselessly past in carriages, waving like paper cut outs . Britain can do without useless figureheads who have no emotional connect to history, art , nature ,literature , love of their heritage, duty, honour . Do they have the kind of devotion that royals had in the past ,who would die for their country ?Charles and his siblings have a smidge of that , not enough . Not ugly William , not chavvy Kate , not the cousins and their offspring . Their lackluster image is getting downright grubby .Meghan represents what people aspire to ..a wholesome return to everything that matters and brings them joy ..and they can see it’s real , not a photoshopped Mothers Day card . Let the left behinds burn. .they are becoming more boring and unpleasant by the minute
If Meghan cured cancer it’d be due to her time as a working Royal 😂
Yeah I think Netflix is pretty happy with this. The show was cheap to produce, they have a product line associated with it, and the press can’t stop talking about it.
I don’t know what Netflix has to do to show it’s all in with Meghan.
The Polo numbers seem lower than I expected (only 500k?) but not sure how that stacks up with the other sports docs.
I’ve watched Sprint, Simone Biles Rising and lots of other sports docs, I also watched Polo and have to say I was a bit turned off by the “reality show” feel of it. I guess I was expecting more of a “documentary” and I was hoping to learn more about the sport which I don’t feel like I did. Lastly, one of the characters near constant use of the “F” word really bugged me and if there’s a second season, I hope he’s not highlighted in it.
I agree with you about Polo. And I’m someone who was always interested in horses. Was hoping for a more documentary style program, the soap opera story line didn’t grab me – especially the guy you mention. Would’ve liked to see something about Nacho’s amazing stable in Argentina, with the grass roof. And then, the non-profit in Philly that uses horses and polo to facilitate their work with disadvantaged youth. There’s local clubs, and college teams. They missed an opportunity to up the profile and broaden the appeal beyond a sport only for the wealthy.
I agree. They know she’s gold or they wouldn’t have partnered with her for As Ever or given her more seasons of WLM. It makes no sense to compare her to Squid Game. I’m curious how she compared to shows similar to hers – lifestyle and cooking. I’ll bet she blew them out of the water.
And also, even if she didn’t make the top 300, it sounds like she’s in the top 6%! That’s amazing to be in the top 6% of all Netflix shows for her debut season.
Netflix has an Excel spreadsheet with all the numbers (I love me some excel, lol). WLM looks like the only cooking show in the top 1,000.
The key part is that the press can’t stop talking about it. From what I can tell, those are v good numbers for a lifestyle show. But then you add in the exposure for netfix. Every article that is written about Meghan or her show mentions Netflix. I mean that can’t be a bad thing for them. At all.
I think WLM did well for a program of that type. That’s why they are comparing it to action series & dramas like adolescence & even suits which naturally have much broader audience appeal. With suits & Harry & Meghan docuseries also pulling in viewers still seems Meghan related content is doing very well on Netflix.
Polo had 600k views in Netflix’s last report that came out in December 2024 I think for the second half of 2024- Polo came out in November 2024. So it’s accumulated over 1m views so far since it’s November release
I have no interest in the sport so was interesting to learn about the game but I agree would have been more compelling if its was grittier bts stories on the athletes. And I agree more could have been done to promote it but even the athletes involved didnt promote it nor many of the polo associations/clubs which was surprising as assumed they would welcome the spotlight on their sport. But perhaps people in the polo world are happy for it to be elusive
Am I the only one who really enjoyed the Polo show? I took it for what it was worth, a light-hearted reality show about a sport I was vaguely familiar with, but I was drawn to watch and finish the entire series. And I did find the people/characters interesting. I would watch a second season.
I enjoyed it. Would watch a second season as well.
What I would like to know is whether those numbers are for the US market only. I can’t think that WLM had “only” 5.3 million views worldwide, not when the previews received nearly as many views and short clips were also receiving millions of views.
Also: since when does Netflix release its numbers? Has it not always been said that the big streaming companies do not? As Kaiser said, gift-wrapped.
This is how you know that Harry and Meghan feed a whole host of “reporters” worldwide. Without them these people have NO livelihood. They get all those numbers for all those famous shows and whose name do they lead with? Meghan’s. Without news about her, those hacks would starve.
I will keep my Netflix subscription as long as they keep “With Love, Meghan”..
Okay, talking about the show and asever, I got home yesterday and the wine is in! I chilled it overnight so am going to try some later. Thinking about adding some club soda and making it a spritz. Has anyone tried that yet? Any recs?
Oooh, let us know. Anytime. Day or night. I didn’t manage to buy any, but maybe the sparkling wine, I hope.
I can only sulk in my jealousy because she doesn’t ship internationally (yet) but a few suggestions :
–people say the top note is cherry, so think of things that go with that
–it’s high ABV (alcohol level) so it can handle things like a cheese charcuterie plate or even grilled meats on the BBQ
-the cépages (grape varieties) are robust. Cabernet added to Rhône varieties like syrah, grenache, carignan (IIRC) is an interesting and powerful mix, yet refreshing because it’s a rosé. Think Pecorino and red pepper risotto, or a salami, black garlic and red onion wood fired pizza California style or marinated Iberico pork chops with a nice bitter salad of shredded Belgian endive, radicchio and shaved Parmesan with a sherry vinaigrette, crusty baguette or smashed rosemary roasted potatoes with garlic butter on the side
Oh, and on the wood-fired pizza, you want shredded Provolone, nice and sharp, along with a bit of pulled-apart-in-your-fingers buffalo mozzarella DOP (protected origin). Pinch of fresh oregano or marjoram or even arugula finely chopped when it comes out of the oven, to finish
🤤
I’ll come back and give a review later! For what it’s worth, I almost never drink wine. So take it with a grain of salt bc there are prob some more experienced wine palates out there. I like bubbles though so I might try alone, with club soda, and then maybe with some Prosecco. But I kind of don’t want to ruin it with whatever cheap Prosecco I’d probably end up getting. But I’ll let y’all know. The only thing I don’t like is something sweet. I do know that Rieslings are not for me.
super, looking forward to your review! I’m a huge fan of rose in many different styles, it goes with everything, like Champagne
Your instinct for making a spritz is a good one, follow that because your palate knows what it likes. It sounds like Meghan has made a well-crafted wine that is very flexible to suit all tastes. You can even go sangria style and load it up with fruit, then pour As Ever and top up with some Prosecco or sparkling water. Nice and light and fresh but fruit forward, easy sipping for an aperitif
Such a pretty color and bottle, truly. Ok, it’s interesting. Just tried it as is. Fr, interesting. Since I haven’t had a glass of rose in prob 20 years, I have nothing to compare it too. Feels like I drank rose in college but haven’t since then. Did it go out of style for a while? Bc I’ve def had a lot of red and white tastings etc over the years but not so much rose.
But anyways. I can taste fruit, it def comes thru but not too strongly and not in a sweet way. I don’t know if I’d say it’s super dry though? It doesn’t taste like something I’ve had before. I wish I had the vocabulary to describe it, lol. Fruity but not sweet? it’s good, for sure. Dangerously so cuz I would drink it by the bucket-full, absolutely. Which means it will be a with friends and special occasions drink, not an open by myself type drink. Once I’ve tried it with some mixer, I’ll check back in. I’m going to take some to my mom later and have her try. She’s a chardonnay drinker but I think she would like it? We’ll see.
Update. My mom did not like. But she regularly drinks Woodbridge chardonnay from the gas station so….LOL.
Jais, I got to taste mine yesterday! Her description is on point. I definitely got the light minerality, pleasantly so. I learned a 3-sip method at a Napa winery a few years ago that opens up your taste buds. (First sip – just to taste. Second sip – slosh it around your mouth; usually a little tart, even bitter. Third sip – you get the full flavor.) I went through that little process and the As Ever rose was delicious with every sip.
The stone fruit and a cherry flavor come through, but at one point I got real pineapple.
You’re right, fruit “forward” but not sweet. At all. I don’t get the comment that the Fail’s sommeliers spouted about a “burn” at the finish. I got just a little dryness at the finish, which seems crisp to me.
Anyway, I’m kicking myself for only getting three bottles. Dang it.
I love this review! My mother drank Black Velvet blended whiskey which was about $11.32 a gallon so I giggled at questionable taste.
I wish Polo had been marketed more. You don’t need any interest in the sport, it’s a fascinating look into the lives of these insanely competitive people, weird family dynamics, and builds towards the big finale of a competition. What’s not to love?
I also enjoyed Polo because it was a glimpse at a sport that is on another level in terms of expense and culture. I’m happy with everything Harry and Meghan are supporting and fail to see what value the tabloids have as critics.
Agreed Polo was a “glimpse at a sport that is on another level in terms of expense and culture.” I really enjoyed watching the intensely competitive people, and the family involvement. All bts about the personalities that make it go, with focus on the path to the US Open.
If someone’s looking for something more expository with rules explained, some play-by-play, + a bit of history, I’d recommend watching the ESPN2 broadcast of ‘Paris Games Polo Challenge: US vs France 2024’ that ran during Paris Olympic Games. Actually ESPN started broadcasting top polo tournaments, including US Open, in 2022. And it looks like they’ve also aired USPA entertainment subsidiary productions that are documentary type.
Not only is the show inexpensive to produce, but aren’t they also making money off her As Ever sales?
Funny how they don’t mention Billy’s documentary only getting 1.5m views.
https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/ratings/prince-william-homelessness-doc-takes-in-15m/5198713.article
I should think making the top 6% of a huge streamer like Netflix with a lifestyle show is a home run. Most negative fails to mention that the Netflix stats are based on 7000 shows. When I read the first report my first question was “384 out of how many shows?” Such shoddy reporting. On a podcast, Meghan mentioned that the number of WLM crew was 50.
One of my few favorite shows is America’s Test Kitchen. A successful 25 years with 2 million weekly viewers. If a cooking show can be deemed to be a success with 2 million, As Ever looks pretty good at 5.3 million views.
What do they count as “a view”?
Also: if the show wasn’t even out for half the time period they’re reporting on, it’s not doing too badly, eh?
I’m sure Netflix is extremely happy with her. Her show costs little to produce, gets millions of views, is a cash cow in terms of merchandizing, and most importantly, brings in subscribers who wouldn’t normally watch Netflix. That alone would be reason enough to renew her contract.
This is a very good result for Meghan and a success by any standard. I liked Polo but get the criticism about it not being more of an informative documentary. For some people , Meghan has to be in the top 10, every sommelier and food critic has to love her product or it’s a failure. If she puts out soap, they’ll take 3 hour baths to analyze it. Anyway, had the Rosé. It’s very good, definitely notice the fruit notes. Had it last night with Middle Eastern takeout and it was delicious.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the wine. I liked Polo, too. But I think it was a bit timid. It didn’t have the confidence to nerd out on the sport – to really go in-depth as a documentary. And it didn’t have the daring to go all-out reality show.
I really enjoyed Polo as well. At first I was a bit taken aback by the reality/soap opera aspect of it, but I think the people playing polo is an important part of the nature of the game. I don’t think a cut and dried history of polo and how polo is played would capture much interest. The series really brought the nature of the game and the people who play and how it operates in the world to light. I do wish though that they would do a documentary about the horses and the training even as a follow-up or second season.
Just tried! And same, I noticed the fruit but it wasn’t a super sweet drink so that made it interesting to me. Since I usually avoid sweet drinks I don’t always get that fruit vibe but I did here in a way that worked for me. Would def drink again and rec to others. It’s too bad it’s a limited release bc I could see it doing really well on the shelves.
I downloaded the Excel spreadsheet provided by Netflix, and quickly & briefly went over it. Here’s some points from my POV:
1. There were 7508 shows on the list (That included every language, and genre, excluded movies.);
included shows that’s globally available & not globally available. This was only counting the shows that’s on Netflix platform at the first half of 2025.
2. “With Love, Meghan” listed as no. 383. Number 377 to 387 shows (included Suits Season 4) all had the same 5.3 million household view. WLM was NOT available globally and had 25.5 million viewing hours. (If it’s globally available, then the viewing number would be way more than it’s now.) I didn’t see any cooking/lifestyle shows listed ahead of WLM.
3. “Hary & Meghan” docuseries was 1764 on the list. It’s globally available and had 1.3 million household view & 7.3 million viewing hours.
4. “Polo” was no. 3438. It’s globally available with 500,000 view & 2.1 million viewing hours.
5. “Chef’s Table: Legends” was no. 1120 and it’s globally available.
Overall, it’s a great result for Meghan.
“WLM was NOT available globally”
Does that mean the global figures aren’t included? Because I watched the show on my local Netflix website, since I don’t live in USA. So, it was available in my country, but not every country Netflix is operating?
WLM not available globally was according to Netflix. Don’t know if it’s true or the Excel data was entered wrongly.
I guessed some markets/countries can watch WLM, but not every Netflix platforms. So WLM was Top 10 in more than 40 countries at first wk, and got Top 10 spot for the whole wk in global viewing ranking, that was impressive.
Cooking shows usually don’t do killer numbers. They do steady numbers that have occasional spurts.
Let me just add this to all the other great comments — I k noticed the period in the headline was for first 6 months when I think it’s only 3 months of data for Meghan’s show? So comparing 3 months vs in many cases 6 months.
If the show had premiered on its original schedule, or had 6 full months of data, it probably would have ranked a bit higher.
5.3 million views is still a lot compared to what the left overs bring in for a streaming show. The only time they really had Any interest Outside the UK is when K was missing, and that in itself, many were mocking the BRF and BM. To create and produce WLM , and still have over 5M views, with NO help from taxpayers money. And the domino effect of WLM outside of Netflix is another league as it created even more buzz on the internet with even more engagements and impressions.
The BM still living in archaic times in a more tech centric and AI world, influence is not what they used to know what once was.