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Netflix’s hit superhero show The Umbrella Academy topped Nielsen’s first-ever streaming ratings, followed by a host of licensed content. The superhero show was a hit for Netflix when season 1 was released. Season 2, which hit the streaming platform on July 31, has proven to be just as popular, if not a little divisive. It consistently ranked on Netflix’s own top 10 section on the platform in the weeks following release and has become a pop-cultural phenomenon.
But no outside data was available to prove it’s popularity. Ratings data provider Nielsen has long provided data on how many households are watching TV but has never offered regular numbers on streaming platforms before, preferring instead to drop details on specific titles. It has focused on network and cable TV for overall ratings, forcing streamers like Netflix to provide their viewing numbers. That’s why Netflix has its own Top 10 on the platform, updated daily, but the way the streaming giant counts views is different from the way Nielsen does. It’s left analysts and fans to mostly guess which shows are the most popular on streaming services. But that’s set to change.
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Nielsen began monitoring Netflix and Amazon’s streaming numbers in the USA, starting in August and has released the numbers from the first week of August today, according to THR. And those numbers are quite astonishing. The Umbrella Academy was far and away the most popular show in the week, with over 3 billion minutes streamed. For context, that’s 57 centuries when converted to years. That’s almost three times the second most popular show, Shameless, which was streamed for just over 1 billion minutes.
Interestingly, The Umbrella Academy is the only streaming original in the top 10. The rest of the top 10, which consists of Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, Criminal Minds, NCIS, In the Dark, Dexter, Supernatural, and Parks and Recreation, are all shows that Netflix licenses from other networks, where they were first established. All of those shows, though, have multiple seasons, some as many as 15 or 16, available on the platform. Nothing from Amazon, original or otherwise, made the top 10.
While the numbers are not exactly complete, given that Nielsen is only counting two platforms, these findings reflect the general perception that Netflix is the king of streaming. It also reflects poorly on the company, however, given that the majority of the popular shows aren’t their originals. They’ll have to find a way to make up for this, given that several popular shows, like The Office, will be leaving the streaming giant in the coming months.
It’s also perhaps a reflection of the idea of comfort watching. During the pandemic, Nielsen noted that older shows were more popular on network TV too, with audiences seeking comfort in familiar old shows that they can anticipate the ending to, rather than new content. The Umbrella Academy broke that trend in a big way, though. It will be interesting to see how the viewing numbers for other streaming platforms, like Hulu and Disney+ compare to these. Hopefully, Nielsen includes them soon.
Source: THR
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