'Sandman' keeps Netflix in streaming-ratings lead as 'Stranger Things' withdraws
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Netflix's (NASDAQ:NFLX) megahit Stranger Things may finally be tailing off after dominating viewing with its most recent season - but the streamer has some replacement programming ready to dominate eyeballs.
The retro-horror/sci-fi hit fell to third place overall in Nielsen's most recent weekly streaming ratings (for Aug. 8-14), with a still-impressive 1.123B minutes streamed. It was surpassed by another Netflix fantasy series - The Sandman rose to No. 1 in its first full week, with 1.386B minutes streamed - as well as movie Uncharted, which brought Netflix another 1.185B minutes.
Netflix held the next three spots on the overall list as well, with Jamie Foxx movie Day Shift (982M minutes), hit series Virgin River (923M minutes), and Locke & Key (919M minutes). But then Disney+ (NYSE:DIS) managed to beat Netflix's toddler standby CoComelon (ninth this week with 702M minutes) with a new season of Bluey, good enough for No. 7 and 917M minutes. Disney+ also placed its film Lightyear back on the overall list at No. 10 with 700M minutes streamed.
Bluey's 917M minutes was good enough to top an acquired-series list usually led by Netflix, ahead of Netflix's NCIS (764M minutes), CoComelon (702M minutes), Grey's Anatomy (604M minutes), Riverdale (578M minutes) and Gilmore Girls (456M minutes).
But HBO Max (WBD) made its presence felt on the list again, with Game of Thrones coming in with 431M minutes leading up to the House of the Dragon premiere Aug. 21, and The Big Bang Theory drawing 399M streaming minutes.
The original-series chart was topped by Netflix (NFLX) and The Sandman, Stranger Things, Virgin River and Locke & Key. A couple of other streamers made a dent, though: Hulu (DIS) (CMCSA) hit No. 7 with Only Murders in the Building as it approached its second-season finale (379M minutes), and Amazon Prime Video (AMZN) hit No. 8 with A League of Their Own (326M minutes).
The movies chart also offered an interesting mix. While Netflix (NFLX) topped the list with Uncharted and Day Shift, Disney's (DIS) Lightyear was third-best at 700M minutes, and Hulu fourth with Predator franchise entry Prey (480M minutes). Prime Video (AMZN) also made the list at No. 6, with Thirteen Lives (333M minutes).
(Nielsen streaming ratings now incorporate viewing from six major streamers: Amazon Prime Video (AMZN), Apple TV+ (AAPL), Disney+ (DIS), HBO Max (WBD), Hulu (DIS) (CMCSA), and Netflix (NFLX).)
Both Netflix and Disney are headed toward something of a showdown as each tries to get its advertising-supported service off the ground first.