Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jeffrey Dahmer series smashes Netflix records with biggest ever opening week for a new show

Ryan Murphy’s true-crime series was watched for 196.2 million hours in its first week

Isobel Lewis
Wednesday 28 September 2022 11:36 BST
Comments
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer biopic series has had the best opening week of any new TV show on the streamer.

Created by Ryan Murphy, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story stars American Horror Story’s Evan Peters as the notorious mass murderer and cannibal.

The true-crime show has been met with controversy, with many Netflix viewers admitting to finding the series’ gruesome murder scenes too much to handle.

A relative of one of Dahmer’s victims also accused the series of “retraumatising” their family with the show.

However, Netflix viewers still flocked to watch Dahmer, with the show being streamed for 196.2 million hours in its first week of availability after being released on Wednesday (21 September).

This makes Dahmer the platform’s most watched new show ever in its first week.

Netflix’s weeks run from Monday to Sunday, meaning that Dahmer’s first week was only five days long.

However, as Dahmer was released on a Wednesday, it had two days longer than most Netflix shows, which usually come out on Fridays.

Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer
Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer (COURTESY OF NETFLIX)

Earlier this week, Netflix removed a tag sorting the series into its LGBTQ content category following online backlash.

Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between the years 1978 and 1991. He was arrested in 1991 and was murdered in prison three years later.

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is on Netflix now.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in