The numbers are being tallied, and ratings agency Nielsen has come up with the most-watched streaming shows in 2025, at least halfway through the year.
Wait. Yesterday the OP, @[email protected], posted this that says Bluey topped Nielson with 25 billion minutes:
Six out of the top 20 most-streamed titles from January through June fell into the animation category (No. 1 “Bluey,” No. 4 “Family Guy,” No. 5 “Bob’s Burgers,” No. 6 “SpongeBob SquarePants,” No. 12 “American Dad!” and No. 20 “South Park”).
“Grey’s Anatomy” came in at No. 2 overall with more than 22 billion minutes streamed across 449 episodes on Hulu and Netflix, while “NCIS” topped 19 billion minutes across 488 episodes on Paramount+, Hulu and Netflix and charted at No. 3 overall.
A number of series with smaller libraries of episodes punched above their weight on the overall list.
“Squid Game” on Netflix accrued more than 15 billion viewing minutes across just 22 total episodes, securing the No. 9 spot overall and No. 1 among original series.
… so even though the Forbes article doesn’t SAY it, perhaps Forbes is only counting streaming-only original series rather than streaming-and-broadcast?
Yes. Looking at Hollywood Reporter, we have more lists that explain the breakdown of Original Series versus Overall. They also list Acquired Series and Movies. Overall:
Bonus! Here’s the most recent 35 day I found – from Variety:
Squid Game (Netflix) 27.1 million
Adolescence (Netflix) 19.0 million
Reacher (Amazon Prime) 18.1 million
Tracker (CBS) 17.5 million
Matlock (CBS) 16.1 million
tie High Potential (ABC) 16.1 million
Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story (Netflix) 15.7 million
tie Zero Day (Netflix) 15.7 million
Nobody Wants This (Netflix) 15.2 million
Landman (Paramount+) 15.0 million
The Night Agent (Netflix) 14.8 million
American Primeval (Netflix) 13.8 million
Running Point (Netflix) 13.1 million
A Man on the Inside (Netflix) 12.4 million
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (CBS) 12.1 million
tie Ghosts (CBS) 12.1 million
Will Trent (ABC) 11.6 million
Elsbeth (CBS) 11.5 million
tie Watson (CBS) 11.5 million
tie 1923 (Paramount+) 11.5 million
tie Ms. Rachel (Netflix/YouTube) 11.5 million
Source: Nielsen panel-only P2+ prime AA, Live+35, 9/15/24-3/15/25 +Nielsen SCR, 35 Day Total Flight for streaming. Excludes sports, specials and repeat programs Note: Regularly scheduled programs with fewer than four episodes in a completed season are not included in this program ranking.
Wait. Yesterday the OP, @[email protected], posted this that says Bluey topped Nielson with 25 billion minutes:
… so even though the Forbes article doesn’t SAY it, perhaps Forbes is only counting streaming-only original series rather than streaming-and-broadcast?
Yes. Looking at Hollywood Reporter, we have more lists that explain the breakdown of Original Series versus Overall. They also list Acquired Series and Movies. Overall:
Bonus! Here’s the most recent 35 day I found – from Variety:
Amazing that “Will Trent” scores that high.