Stranger Things was the most streamed series of 2022, according to Nielsen’s end of year rankings.
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The Netflix hit-series continued to live up to its established reputation and set a post-lockdown record, notching 52 billion minutes of viewing time across 2022. This is just shy of the 2020 pandemic record set by The Office (US) in 2020, which pulled in 57.1 billion minutes.
Though Stranger Things was the overall king of the streaming shows last year, there were other big hitters that ensured Netflix took the top three slots in the rankings. Ozark came in second with 31.3 billion minutes of streaming, while Wednesday proved to be a big-hitter – despite its late release in 2022 – with 18.6 billion minutes streamed.
The Nielsen rankings, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, show that Stranger Things managed to acquire 46.51 billion minutes of its rating over the summer. The remaining 5.5 billion (give or take) minutes were spread out over the remainder of the year.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s Prime Video service saw its biggest hit come in the forms of The Boys, which notched up 10.6 billion minutes. Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power clocked 9.4 billion minutes. However, with that said, The Boys has 24 episodes in its library versus eight for The Rings of Power.
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Series that have been “acquired2 made up 10 of the top 15 overall titles. There are a host of long-running TV series in the overall list, including: Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Supernatural and The Simpsons.
Overall
1. Stranger Things (Netflix), 52 billion minutes viewed
2. NCIS (Netflix), 38.1 billion
3. Cocomelon (Netflix), 37.8 billion
4. Ozark (Netflix), 31.3 billion
5. Encanto (Disney+), 27.4 billion
6. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix), 26.8 billion
7. Criminal Minds (Netflix/Hulu/Paramount+), 24.9 billion
8. Bluey (Disney+), 21.1 billion
9. Gilmore Girls (Netflix), 20.8 billion
10. Seinfeld (Netflix), 19.3 billion
11. Supernatural (Netflix), 18.8 billion
12. Wednesday (Netflix), 18.6 billion
13. Heartland (Netflix), 18 billion
14. Cobra Kai (Netflix), 16.7 billion
15. The Simpsons (Disney+), 15.9 billion
Original Streaming Service Series
1. Stranger Things (Netflix), 52 billion minutes
2. Ozark (Netflix), 31.3 billion
3. Wednesday (Netflix), 18.6 billion
4. Cobra Kai (Netflix), 16.7 billion
5. Bridgerton (Netflix), 14 billion
6. Virgin River (Netflix), 13.6 billion
7. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix), 13.4 billion
8. Love Is Blind (Netflix), 13.1 billion
9. Inventing Anna (Netflix), 12.9 billion
10. The Crown (Netflix), 12.7 billion
11. The Boys (Prime Video), 10.6 billion // The Great British Baking Show (Netflix), 10.6 billion
13. The Umbrella Academy (Netflix), 10.5 billion
14. The Last Kingdom (Netflix), 10.4 billion
15. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video), 9.4 billion