New data revealed that Virgin River Season 5 had a drop in viewership during its debut on Netflix.
The first part of Virgin River Season 5 made its debut on Netflix on September 7.
The show featured the return of its stellar cast and addresses the aftermath of Season 4's wild ending where a new villain arrives, the identity of Jack's shooter is revealed, and the unraveling of the mystery behind Denny's medical condition is addressed.
What Are Virgin River Season 5’s Viewership Numbers?
Samba TV, a television analytics firm, revealed that 1.3 million domestic households watched Part 1 of Virgin River Season 5 during its first four days on Netflix.
This viewership number is down by 13% from Season 4's debut, which had an estimated 1.46 million viewers in July 2022.
An analysis from Samba TV noted that Virgin River had one of the highest retention rates with 58% of viewers watching the show's premiere all the way through the finale.
Will Virgin River Season 6 Still Happen?
In May 2023, Netflix renewed Virgin River for Season 6 ahead of its Season 5 premiere.
Despite the drop in viewership from Season 4 to Season 5, Netflix recently reaffirmed that Virgin River Season 6 is still happening.
It's possible that Netflix executives anticipated the 13% drop and didn't find it as something totally concerning, potentially because the latest season still managed to cross the 1 million US households mark during its first four days.
Similar to what Samba TV pointed out, Virgin River Season 5 could still have remarkable retention rates like Season 4's 58%.
Season 5 Part 1 ended with a long list of revelations, including the likes of Mel's miscarriage, the identity of Mel's father, and Calvin's surprise return.
While Season 5's remaining two episodes will likely address some of those interesting storylines, Season 6 is needed in order to fully resolve all of it.
In fact, Virgin River producer Richard Keith told TUDUM on set that "there's always a happy ending" on the horizon for these characters, hinting that it might happen in Season 6:
“Yes, the characters do go through some pretty terrible things, but there’s always a happy ending. It may not be the happy ending they were expecting, but they find their way to a happy place that in some ways might be happier than if they’d ended up where they thought they would to begin with.”
Part 1 of Virgin River Season 5 is streaming on Netflix. Part 2 is set to premiere on the streaming service on November 30.
