It’s been a great year for records- and we’re finally seeing one for the streaming arena, too. Netflix has always had a great hit on its hands with Stranger Things, and the first episodes of Season 4 have managed to set a brand new record for U.S streaming. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, fills us in.
7.2 Billion Streaming Minutes
In just one week- May 30th through June 5th- the 32 episodes of Stranger Things season 4 has managed to rack up 7.2B minutes of streaming. This breaks Netflix’s Tiger King’s record from May 2020 for the most U.S streaming minutes in a single week. It’s worth noting that this is without the penultimate and final episodes, too.
The announcement that the series will end in Season 5 probably had a hand in driving demand, but that’s still impressive.
Obi-Wan Draws Crowds
The Star Wars IP spin-off, Obi-Wan Kenobi, is also carving itself as a breakthrough original, despite skewing to a male audience. It has managed to pick a lot of traction up through the age tiers, however, playing almost evenly from 18-64 years of age. It managed to hit almost 1B viewing minutes, despite only three episodes being available in that same period.
It’s also worth remembering that Nielsen still only tracks minutes watched on a TV screen for streaming, so the overall picture is likely even rosier for both IPs.
While there hasn’t been the same concern for the strong streaming industry that we’ve seen for the theatrical box office, seeing this level of engagement and traction from two solid series is always a welcome sight. Hopefully there will be plenty more to come as we move forward into an invigorated film and TV landscape.
Film and Television 