‘Shameless’ Season 8 Has Highest Ratings Yet, Some Speculate Netflix Is The Reason [Opinion]

With ratings of 'Shameless' at an all time high as of Season 8, many people wonder what caused the sudden spike.

Shanola Hampton, William H. Macy, center, and Isidora Goreshter of Shameless
Chris Pizzello / AP Images
TV

There is no denying the overwhelming popularity of the Showtime series Shameless. There is also no denying Netflix’s ability to revive an otherwise dead series. The question is – can Netflix increase the popularity of series already booming with popularity? According to the speculation of several different media outlets, it would seem as if the streaming giant does have that much juice.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the season debut of Season 8 was the highest rated season since Season 3 of the series. Showtime president and CEO David Nevins believes the boost in popularity is largely thanks to Shameless being available to watch on Netflix. Nevins also believes the series will be around for years to come thanks to the overwhelmingly high ratings. He firmly believes the series has Netflix and Netflix subscribers to thank in the growth to the Shameless fan base.

According to Refinery 29, Nevins praises the series for its ability to continue to “renew” itself with new and creative ideas. He believes shows with the ability to up their ratings so many seasons in with new and exciting plot lines are the shows that stay on the air.

“It’s definitely helped introduce it to another audience, but there’s positives and negatives to that. It’s helped its run on Showtime. Fortunately, this season that is currently running on Showtime won’t be on Netflix for another nine months. There’s a much longer period of our exclusivity, which I think is a good thing for us. The downside is I don’t want people thinking it’s a Netflix show.”

The growth in popularity of streaming giants such as Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix do make things a little more challenging for new shows to monitor their ratings. This is especially true for shows like Shameless that air on television and then are available shortly afterward for anyone who pays for the Showtime channel on streaming services such as Hulu or Netflix. Furthermore, there are some viewers who prefer to record the episode to watch later or watch it the next day On Demand via their cable provider. So, shows and networks must collect data from their network on television, their website, and streaming platforms to determine exactly what the ratings are.

While these streaming giants have made it challenging for some TV series to survive thanks to low ratings, Shameless fans seem to have nothing to worry about as the show will likely continue to go on as long as the actors and writers are willing to push forward with it.

Shameless Season 7 cast at a party together
  Eric Charbonneau / AP Images

With roughly nine months before Season 8 of Shameless will be available for Netflix subscribers to watch, those who wish to view Season 8 will still need to turn to Showtime via their cable provider or through Hulu or Amazon. So, it will be a lot easier for the network to monitor the views and ratings for the next several months.

While there is always some risk with a network such as Showtime deciding to release a series on Netflix, it appears as if the decision to add Shameless to the Netflix library will only benefit the network in the long run.