Led by the release of its fourth season, the Netflix popular sci-fi series starring Millie Bobby Brown tops Nielsen's 2022 streaming chart and overall programs in the U.S. last year.
- January 27, 2023
AceShowbiz - The Upside Down ruled the TV department in 2022 as "Stranger Things" was named the most-streamed TV show and overall program in the U.S. last year show. Led by the release of its fourth season, Netflix's hit sci-fi series topped Nielsen's 2022 streaming chart.
The Millie Bobby Brown-starring show took the No. 1 position of the chart after registering 52 billion minutes streamed in 2022. It is the highest total since COVID-19 lockdown drove audiences to watch 57.1 billion minutes of NBC's "The Office" back in 2022. However, it should be noted that while the comedy series has 192 episodes, the Duffer brothers' show has only 34 episodes.
Netflix also reveals that season 4 of "Stranger Things" is the No. 1 most-watched English TV series in the first four weeks of release as it garnered 1.35 billion hours worldwide in the initial 28-day period. "Wednesday" followed with 1.24 billion hours watched in the same window. Starring breakout star Jenna Ortega, the "Addams Family" spin-off series came in at the third spot on Nielsen's original series list.
Back to Nielsen's chart, CBS crime drama "NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service" was the second most-watched program overall in 2022. Its 356 episodes on Netflix pulled in 38.1 billion minutes viewed. In 2021, CBS' "Criminal Minds" was the most-viewed show in the U.S. as it garnered 33.9 billion minutes of watch time.
At No. 3 of most-streamed U.S. programs was "CoComelon". The enduringly popular kids show from Moonbug Entertainment (part of Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer's Candle Media) on Netflix brought in 37.8 billion minutes viewed. Following it up was Netflix original "Ozark", which stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney.
Rounding out the Top 10 most-streamed programs in 2022 were Disney+'s animated movie "Encanto", ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" reruns on Netflix, "Criminal Minds" which was available on Netflix through mid-2022, Hulu and Paramount, and animated children's show "Bluey" on Disney+. There were also "Gilmore Girls" and "Seinfeld" reruns on Netflix.
