Netflix had already revealed that the first part of the final season of “Stranger Things” was massive. On December 2, the streamer revealed the series had pulled in 59 million global viewers after dropping on November 26. The following week, the eight episodes pulled in another 23.6 million views. Now, the Duffer Brothers’ breakthrough series has made Nielsen’s Streaming Reports with a number never seen before, 8.46 billion minutes. Oh, and it was just over four full days of data.
That beats the previous record set by “Stranger Things” season 4, which amassed 7.2 billion minutes in its first week in 2022.
Unlike Netflix, Nielsen does not break down by season (it is calculating for 38 episodes), but did report that 57% of that total came from the new chapters. It also noted that 59% of the viewership was adults 18-49, a key advertiser demo. Again, these figures are even more impressive as Nielsen only tracked four full days based on the reporting week of Nov. 24.
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While “Stranger Things” season 5 now has the Nielsen record, “Wednesday” season one is still the most popular series all time for Netflix, with 252 million viewers worldwide.
Lost in the hype, but almost as impressive, was Paramount+’s “Landman,” which pulled in 1.34 billion minutes viewed in second place. It previously hit 1.38 billion minutes last January. The Netflix limited series “The Beast in Me” was third with 1.059 billion minutes viewed. The success of that Claire Danes series sparked renewed interest in “Homeland,” which led the acquired program list with 855 million minutes viewed on both Netflix and Hulu.
“Stranger Things” Season 5, Part 1 is now available on Netflix. Part 2 drops on the streamer on Christmas, with the Finale arriving on New Year’s Day.
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