“The Last of Us” has debuted on Nielsen’s weekly streaming Top 10 rankings with 837 million minutes watched from Jan. 16-22, the first full week that Episode 1 was available on HBO Max. And as Nielsen’s viewing window ends on Sunday nights, which is when the show debuts, this number also includes viewership of Episode 2 in its first few hours of streaming.
This is the series’ first time making the chart, though Nielsen did previously report that Episode 1 was viewed for 233 million minutes during the Jan. 9-15 window, which only included the episode’s first few hours of availability. To contextualize that major accomplishment, 233 million is more than one-third of the viewership achieved by that week’s No. 10 title, which had been streaming for an entire week.
It’s important to note that “The Last of Us” isn’t a streaming original, unlike some of the titles at the top of the chart. This measurement indicates streaming only, excluding the solid portion of viewership that comes from HBO’s cable network. Warner Bros. Discovery reported that a total 4.7 million people watched the episode across all platforms in its first night of availability, while Nielsen reported that 1.1 million viewers (or 23%) of those viewers tuned into the linear platform.
By increasing 837 million by 23%, one could estimate that “The Last of Us” would have racked up just over 1 billion minutes watched if linear viewers were counted on this chart. That would put it in the No. 4 position, behind streaming originals “Ginny & Georgia” and “That ’90s Show” as well as “The Walking Dead,” an AMC title acquired by Netflix.
This is the third week in a row that “Ginny & Georgia” has remained the most-streamed title thanks to the Netflix debut of its second season. From Jan. 16-22, the series was watched for 1.8 billion minutes, down from 2.7 billion the week before.
“That ’90s Show,” a sequel series to “That ’70s Show,” debuted in the No. 2 position with 1.6 billion minutes watched. The series premiered on Jan. 19, meaning it achieved this viewership in its first four days of availability on Netflix.
“The Walking Dead” continues to enjoy a post-finale bump. Though the zombie apocalypse drama had its series finale on AMC in November, the final season was added to Netflix in early January and has made the Nielsen Top 10 three weeks in a row. From Jan. 16-22, the series was watched for 1.1 billion minutes.
Fourth place went to “Vikings: Valhalla” in the first full week of availability of its second season. It was watched for 975 million minutes from Jan. 16-22, down slightly from 1 billion minutes the week before. Following at No. 5 with 885 million minutes wathed was “Cocomelon,” the animated preschool series that regularly makes the Top 10.
Following “The Last of Us” at No. 6 was “Wednesday” for its ninth straight week of making the Top 10. The “Addams Family” spinoff was watched for 711 million minutes during this viewing window.
Rounding out the bottom of the chart were usual Top 10 suspects: “Bluey” (695 million minutes), “NCIS” (695 million) and “Criminal Minds” (659 million).
See Nielsen’s list of overall streaming rankings for Jan. 9-15 first, followed by original streaming titles, acquired titles and then films.
