Stranger Things Season 5 Demolished Ratings Records With Volume 1, But Now I Get Why It Dropped From #1 So Quickly

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The fifth and final season of Stranger Things will begin airing in 2025, starting with the first three of four episodes. When the first part of the season was released before Thanksgiving, it quickly became the most-watched show on Netflix, though it didn’t hold the top spot for long. Now that the viewership numbers are available for those who watched it immediately in November, the impressive totals might explain why.

Stranger Things’ New Record For Netflix

Get ready for some surprising numbers! Nielsen’s latest weekly report (reported by Deadline) shows that Stranger Things racked up 8.46 billion minutes of viewing time between November 24th and November 30th. And that’s not a mistake – it really is billion.

As expected, viewers spent 8.46 billion minutes watching the first part of Stranger Things Season 5, making it the most-watched weekly release of any streaming show – and by a significant margin. It surpassed the previous record by over a billion minutes.

The new show surpassed Stranger Things Season 4, which previously held the record with 7.2 billion minutes viewed upon its release in 2022. According to Nielsen data, the show in second place during Stranger Things‘ premiere week was Landman on Paramount+, earning only 1.34 billion minutes of viewership.

Even before its official release on November 26th, Stranger Things had already returned to the top 10 shows on Netflix. Recent data from Nielsen shows that the first part of Season 5 accounted for 5.7 billion of the 8.46 billion total minutes watched, and a large portion of that – 59% – came from viewers aged 18 to 49.

It’s almost certain that Stranger Things will return to the top of Netflix’s Top 10 when the next set of episodes is released on Christmas Day. I don’t expect its ranking to fall before the final episodes air on New Year’s Eve. The early viewership numbers actually back up a theory I had soon after the first four episodes came out.

Why Did Stranger Things Get Knocked Down In The Top 10 So Quickly?

Just over a week after its release before Thanksgiving, Stranger Things lost its position as the most-watched show on Netflix. The documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning moved it down to number two. Even though it was no longer at the top, Stranger Things had an incredible first week, earning 59.6 million views – the best premiere week for any English-language series on Netflix.

I initially thought the quick drop in viewership for Sean Combs: The Reckoning after its release was simply because so many people watched all four episodes of Volume 1 right away. It seemed logical that it wouldn’t maintain the popularity of Stranger Things‘ final season, so I believe the high initial numbers followed by the decline were due to widespread binge-watching.

Even with the new season arriving in just three days, Stranger Things remains popular on Netflix, currently ranking as the third most-watched show in the U.S. As of today, Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable is #1, Emily in Paris is #2, Sean Combs: The Reckoning is #4, and Man vs. Baby rounds out the top five. This shows that Netflix’s most popular shows cover a wide variety of interests!

As a huge Stranger Things fan, I’m so excited to share that Volume 2 of Season 5 kicks off with three brand new episodes on Christmas Day at 8 p.m. Eastern! Seriously, you’ll want to watch right away – not only to be part of what could be a record-breaking viewership, but also so you’re completely up-to-date before the very last episodes drop on New Year’s Eve. Don’t miss it!

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2025-12-23 05:10