Given the other records it has already broken at the start of its fourth season, “Stranger Things” breaking one more is not all that surprising. However, the well-liked OTT series has now attained a crucial milestone and shatters the Nielsen Streaming Record.
According to Nielsen, Stranger Things racked up 7.2 billion minutes of viewing time for the week of May 30-June 5 — the highest weekly total for any streaming programme since weekly rankings were introduced almost two years ago. Additionally, it has the highest two-week total of any streaming programme: Season four of Stranger Things had 5.14 billion minutes of viewing during the week of May 23–29, for a two-week total of 12.34 billion minutes.
No streaming show had ever before, as measured by Nielsen, clocked 6 billion minutes in a single week, much less 7 billion. Prior to Stranger Things, only Tiger King (twice) and Ozark in the spring of 2020 — during pandemic lockdowns — had surpassed 5 billion minutes.
Nielsen includes all seasons of a show when calculating its streaming rankings, but it’s likely that the seven episodes of season four that debuted on May 27 accounted for the vast majority of the 7.2 billion minutes. More than 75% of the 5.14 billion minutes of the show during the week of May 23–29, according to the ratings service, came from season four.
Stranger Things has also become the most watched English language series on Netflix, per the company’s internal metrics. The streamer says its subscribers have watched more than 930 million hours worldwide over season four’s first 28 days.
With the release of its fourth season on Netflix, The CW’s All American scored as well, easily dominating the chart for acquired series with 1.25 billion minutes of watch time. The Big Bang Theory (352 million minutes) and Friends (346 million) are two of the top 10 acquired shows on HBO Max, which also makes its debut on the charts.
The minutes watched on computers or mobile devices are not included in Nielsen’s streaming ratings, which only account for viewing on TVs. Only Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and Prime Video are currently included in the ratings, which only reflect American viewers and exclude those from other countries.
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Nielsen’s top streaming series for May 30-June 5
Original Series
1. Stranger Things (Netflix), 7.2 billion minutes viewed
2. The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix), 966 million
3. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+), 958 million
4. The Boys (Prime Video), 919 million
5. Ozark (Netflix), 644 million
6. Wrong Side of the Tracks (Netflix), 291 million
7. Grace and Frankie (Netflix), 271 million
8. Night Sky (Prime Video), 242 million
9. Workin’ Moms (Netflix), 215 million
10. Floor Is Lava (Netflix), 214 million
Acquired Series
1. All American (Netflix), 1.25 billion minutes
2. NCIS (Netflix), 692 million
3. Cocomelon (Netflix), 615 million
4. Criminal Minds (Netflix), 558 million
5. Gilmore Girls (Netflix), 438 million
6. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix), 388 million
7. Supernatural (Netflix), 367 million
8. Outlander (Netflix), 364 million
9. The Big Bang Theory (HBO Max), 352 million
10. Friends (HBO Max), 346 million