Ryan Murphy’s “Monster” takes the lead for the second week in a row on the Nielsen Top 10 streaming chart, with 4.4 billion minutes viewed from Sept. 26-Oct. 2. The number, calculated during in the show’s first full week of availability, breaks the limited series’ previous record; last week, after only five days of availability, it became the 10th most streamed program in a single week ever recorded by Nielsen. This week, it’s jumped to No. 7 on that list with 3.7 billion minutes viewed during the Sept. 19 to Sept. 25 viewing window.
The numbers show a record breaking week for both titles in the top 2 spots as “Hocus Pocus 2” takes the throne for Nielsen’s biggest-ever opening weekend for a movie with 2.7 billion minutes viewed following its Sept. 30 premiere. The record was previously held by “Encanto,” which scored 2.2 billion minutes watched during its first three days of availability. “Frozen 2,” another Disney film, takes third place with 2.17 billion minutes viewed following its March 15 debut on Disney+.
Titles streaming on Disney+ make up the majority of Nielsen’s overall top movies list, save for Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up” (2 billion) and “Red Notice” –– which had two big weekends between Nov. 8-21, garnering 1.8 billion and 1.7 viewing minutes.
Also of note is that the original “Hocus Pocus” made the overall streaming chart due to rewatching near release of its sequel, landing in seventh place with 774 million minutes viewed.
“Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” came in at No. 3, taking the lead above HBO’s “House of the Dragon” in the programs’ fifth week of competition. The Amazon Prime series raked in 966 million minutes watched during the viewing window after releasing of Episode 6, while the HBO period drama nabbed 906 million minutes following the release of Episode 7. This marks a drop in HBO’s numbers from the previous week’s 1 billion minutes viewed, which placed the show in third place.
Because the two shows air on different schedules and in different formats, these are not perfect comparisons. Nielsen is able to measure all U.S. viewing of “The Rings of Power” with its streaming rankings since the show lives exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, while an estimated one-third of “House of the Dragon” viewers remain uncounted on the chart thanks to the HBO’s cable airings. “House of the Dragon” episodes, on the other hand, are available for all of Nielsen’s streaming window since the show airs on Sundays and receive the additional boost of new episodes airing at the end of each window. “The Rings of Power” episodes are released on Fridays, meaning they’re only available for the second half of the window.
Netflix movie “Lou” made a jump on the streaming Top 10 chart this week, taking fifth place with 802 million viewing minutes in its first full week of availability compared to last week’s 681 million in its opening weekend. The Allison Janney-led drama premiered on the streaming service on Sept. 23.
At No. 6, “Cocomelon” remains steady in place with 782 million minutes watched. The children’s series continues to make the chart despite not releasing new episodes thanks to regular watching.
“NCIS” (748 million), “In the Dark” (665 million) and “Cobra Kai” (653 million), all on Netflix, round out the bottom of the list. “Cobra Kai” dropped in viewing minutes in its third week of availability following the previous week’s 1.1 billion minutes, which placed the “Karate Kid” spinoff series at No. 2 behind “Monster” during the Sept. 19-Sept. 25 viewing window.
See Nielsen’s newest Top 10 streaming rankings below, with overall streaming titles for Sept. 26-Oct. 2 first, followed by original streaming titles, acquired titles and then films.
