Thanks To A Show About Nothing, Netflix Sweeps Streaming Ratings

The streaming platform market has grown over the years, with an increasing number of people cutting the cord and choosing to have over-the-top platforms instead. The growth has also brought new players into the market to take on leader Netflix Inc NFLX. New data from Nielsen Holdings PLC NLSN reflects the big lead Netflix has taken over its streaming competition.

What Happened: Nielsen releases rankings for original shows, acquired shows and movies across streaming platforms that include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon.com Inc AMZN Prime, Apple Inc AAPL TV+ and Disney+ from The Walt Disney Company DIS.

The latest report from Nielsen saw Netflix sweep the top ten overall programs for the week of Nov. 1 through Nov. 7.

The ten most viewed items on streaming platforms, all from Netflix, were (in millions of minutes streamed):

• The Harder They Fall: 1,195
• You: 994
• Cocomelon: 767
• Squid Game: 673
• Seinfeld: 672
• Locke & Key: 635
• Criminal Minds: 605
• Shameless: 594
• Maid: 524
• NCIS: 519

Netflix not only swept the overall top ten, they also took the majority of each individual category.

In the original shows category, Netflix had the top nine viewed shows, with only “Ted Lasso” from Apple appearing on the list from other companies. “Ted Lasso” had 310 million minutes streamed in the time period.

Netflix swept the acquired shows category with all ten positions, with the top five all appearing on the overall top ten most watched programs in the time period.

For movies, Netflix held six of the top ten positions in the time period, led by “The Harder They Fall” and “Army of Thieves.” It’s harder for a movie to make the list as it includes overall minutes, and many shows have multiple seasons and dozens of episodes that can be streamed.

Related Link: Here Are The Ten Most Watched Netflix Series Of All Time

Why It’s Important: Netflix dominated the latest rankings from Nielsen, holding 25 of the 30 top shows and movies ranked. Apple had one show and one movie on the list. Disney had three movies on the list.

Netflix recently launched its own top ten rankings system that shows the top ten shows and movies for English and non-English language content. The rankings are updated weekly by Netflix.

The streaming giant recently scored a big hit with “Red Notice,” which starred The Rock, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. The film is Netflix’s most watched movie ever, and came out in the middle of the ranking period above.

While Netflix spends billions on original content each year, it also invests in acquiring top shows like “NCIS” and “Seinfeld.” The company’s price tag on “Seinfeld” is said to be hundreds of millions, but based on the rankings could be well worth it.

Netflix began airing “Seinfeld” episodes in October as part of a five-year deal for the original 180 episodes.

The strategy put in place by Netflix to acquire and create content has worked in terms of adding subscribers. Netflix ended the third quarter with 214 million global paid subscribers. The company forecasts it will add 8.5 million net new subscribers in the fourth quarter.

Price Action: NFLX shares are up 1% to $620.03 on Tuesday.