Netflix'S Roast of Tom Brady received a lot of press attention (including several stories on this terribly website), but another live special from the streamer's Netflix Is a Joke festival increased views this weekend.
Cat Williams: Wake up Foke, which streamed live on Saturday, May 4, was viewed 4 million times worldwide (determined by total watch time divided by running time), according to Netflix's internal measurement for April 29 – May 5. That's double the 2 million for the Brady Roast (which streamed live a day later). The Roast had a total viewing time of 6.2 million hours, up to 4.1 million hours for Williams' special – but it was also almost three times as long as Wake up Foke.
However, the fact that both specials made it into the global top 10 is a testament to Netflix's growing ability to host live events. The streamer's first live stand-up special, Chris Rock: Selective outrage, finished outside the global top 10 before debuting in March 2023 (when Netflix ranked shows based on total time watched rather than number of views).
Wake up Foke also scored higher in the United States than Tom Brady's roast, and finished second among US Netflix users, while the roast ranked fifth this week. A third Netflix Is a Joke special, John Mulaney presents: Everyone's in LA, also made the US top 10 with its first installment (additional episodes streaming this week). Netflix does not break down views or watch time by country.
Baby reindeer remained at No. 1 on Netlfix's English-language TV rankings for the third week in a row, with 18.6 million views. The origin story of Jerry Seinfeld's Pop-Tarts Immature topped the list of English-language films in its opening weekend with 7.1 million views. The non-English lists include Spain The Asunta case led the series rankings with 11.9 million views, and Kuwaiti rom-com Honeymoon was number 1 among films with 14 million views.