Netflix dominated the most streamed shows of ’22; original program development (NASDAQ:NFLX)
More streamers than ever are making a dent in overall viewing as the industry continues to diversify – but the size of the subscriber base remains king and that means Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) dominates the list of most streamed shows of the past year.
Disney (NYSE:dis), however – which is catching up in terms of worldwide subscribers – has appeared a few times on the overall list and demonstrates its dominance in terms of the most watched streaming movies.
Strange things (NFLX) was the most streamed show in all of 2022, according to Nielsen, with a whopping 52 billion minutes of streaming — 36% more minutes than its closest rival, NCIS (38.1B minutes). That 52 billion minutes is the most since the COVID-19 pandemic spurred viewing Office to 57.1 billion minutes by 2020.
NCIS streaming on Paramount+ (PARA) (PARAA), but also on Netflix (NFLX), which means that Netflix has a foothold in the top four streamed shows of the year: Strange Things, NCIS, child hit cocomelon (37.8B minutes) and Ozark (31.3B minutes).
Overall, Americans streamed over 19.4 million year content last year — a 27% increase over a total of about 15 million years by 2021, Nielsen noted.
And original content from streaming companies has risen to new heights in 2022, thanks in large part to Netflix originals (Netflix posted the 10 most watched original shows: Stranger Things, Ozark, Wednesday, Cobra Kai, Bridgerton, Virgin River, Dahmer, Love is Blind, Inventing Anna and Crown).
However, newer streamers are filling their viewership with library content – and purchased shows make up 11 of the top 15. Rounding the top 10 behind Strange Things, NCIS, CoComelon and Ozark: 5, Encanto (dis), 27.4B minutes; Number 6, Grey’s Anatomy (NFLX), 26.8B minutes; number 7, Criminal psychology (various), 24.9B minutes; 8, blue (dis), 21.1B minutes; number 9, Gilmore girl (NFLX), 20.8B minutes; and number 10, Seinfeld (NFLX), 19.3B minutes.
Amazon Prime Videos (NASDAQ:AMZN) investments in the original landed it twice showing up on that chart: Boys in 11th place (10.6B minutes); and Rings of Power in 15th place (9.4B min). And HBO Max (white blood cells) put Friend on the list of bought shows at 11th place (14.54 billion minutes streamed).
Meanwhile, Disney (dis) takes 10 of the top 15 movie streaming positions, including the top two with Encanto (watched 269 million times) and turn red (11,427B minutes). Netflix (NFLX) has the only other movie streaming over 10 billion minutes, with sing 2 (11,347B minutes).
(Nielsen’s streaming ratings now combine viewing from seven major streamers: Amazon Prime Video (AMZN), AppleTV+ (AAPL), Disney+ (dis), HBO Max (white blood cells), Hulu (dis) (CMCSA), Netflix (NFLX) and the Peacock (CMCSA).)
