The hit Netflix series shattered streaming records over the Thanksgiving holiday, delivering the biggest weekly viewing total ever measured for a streaming show. According to Nielsen, the debut week of the show’s fifth and final season racked up a staggering 8.46 billion minutes viewed between November 24 and November 30.
That number doesn’t just top the charts — it blows past the previous all-time record by more than a billion minutes. That record, fittingly, was also held by Stranger Things, which logged 7.2 billion minutes when Season 4 premiered in 2022.
What makes the achievement even more impressive is how little content was released. Netflix dropped only four episodes of Season 5 during that window, and they were available for just over four days. By comparison, Season 4 launched with seven episodes and didn’t hit its record-breaking numbers until a full week of availability.
Nielsen reports that 57% of the viewing came from the new Season 5 episodes, while the rest was driven by fans revisiting earlier seasons. The audience also skewed heavily toward the key demographic, with 59% of viewers aged 18–49.
Release timing makes direct comparisons tricky. Season 5 premiered on a Wednesday evening, while Season 4 dropped early on a Friday morning. Even so, the momentum is undeniable. For context, Season 4 pulled in 5.14 billion minutes in its first three days — strong numbers, but nowhere near this new high.
The hype didn’t start at launch. Weeks before the premiere, Stranger Things was already surging on Nielsen’s charts. In early November, it returned to the Top 10 with 921 million minutes viewed, then climbed to No. 1 the following week with 1.3 billion minutes. The week right before Season 5 debuted, it held onto the top spot with 1.6 billion minutes viewed.
All signs point to even bigger numbers ahead. Netflix plans to roll out the final batch of episodes on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, setting the stage for another massive surge. While Nielsen data arrives with a delay, Netflix is expected to share its own viewing totals in the coming weeks, as it did for the first four episodes.
Elsewhere on the streaming charts, there were a few notable challengers — though none came close to Stranger Things. Paramount+’s Landman Season 2 landed at No. 2 with 1.34 billion minutes viewed, while Netflix’s The Beast in Me took third place with 1.06 billion minutes.
There was also a surprise boost for older content. Homeland, created by The Beast in Me showrunner Howard Gordon, surged to No. 1 among acquired titles after arriving on Netflix, pulling in 855 million minutes.
As usual for this time of year, holiday classics also made their annual return. How the Grinch Stole Christmas led the seasonal pack with 669 million minutes viewed, followed by Home Alone at 499 million and Elf at 397 million.
With records already broken and the finale still ahead, Stranger Things is proving one last time why it remains one of the most powerful forces in streaming history.
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