Streaming Ratings: ‘Rings of Power’ Season 2 Opens Lower (But Still Big)

The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power opened to big viewing numbers in the United States — just not as big as its first season.

The Prime Video series amassed 1.02 billion minutes of viewing in the United States for the week of Aug. 26-Sept. 1, good for first place among original series and second among all titles in Nielsen’s streaming rankings. Season two premiered on Aug. 29 with three episodes, and Nielsen says about 70 percent of the show’s weekly total was for those three, with the remainder devoted to season one. (Viewing totals on the ratings service’s charts cover all episodes of a series.)

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The 1.02 billion minutes is down about 19 percent from season one’s opening week (1.25 billion) in August 2022. The Rings of Power ranks third among Prime Video series U.S. opening weeks this year behind Fallout (2.9 billion minutes) and The Boys (1.19 billion); Reacher’s second season logged 1.69 billion minutes for its debut in December 2023.

Amazon has said 40 million people worldwide watched the season’s first three episodes over 11 days; these Nielsen rankings cover only four days of release. The company also says that the United States accounts for only about 30 percent of The Rings of Power’s global audience.

Prison Break spent a fourth consecutive week as the top overall title with 1.19 billion minutes of viewing on Netflix and Hulu. AMC’s streaming deal with Netflix continued to pay dividends, with four shows — A Discovery of Witches (915 million minutes), Dark Winds (890 million), The Walking Dead (688 million, charting for the first time in 18 months) and Preacher (628 million) among the top 10 library series.

Netflix’s Worst Ex Ever (830 million minutes of watch time) was the top debut after The Rings of Power. Greek mythology-based Kaos (511 million minutes) also made its first appearance after premiering Aug. 29, and Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (460 million) returned with the start of its fourth season.

Nielsen’s streaming ratings cover viewing on TV sets only and don’t include minutes watched on computers or mobile devices. The ratings only measure U.S. audiences, not those in other countries. The top streaming titles for Aug. 26-Sept. 1, 2024, are below.

Overall

1. Prison Break (Hulu/Netflix), 1.19 billion minutes viewed
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video), 1.02 billion
3. Family Guy (Hulu), 1.01 billion
4. A Discovery of Witches (Netflix), 915 million
5. The Accident (Netflix), 891 million
6. Dark Winds (Netflix), 890 million
7. Bluey (Disney+), 880 million
8. Worst Ex Ever (Netflix), 830 million
9. Grey’s Anatomy (Hulu/Netflix), 742
10. Bob’s Burgers (Hulu), 693 million

Original Series

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, 1.02 billion minutes
2. The Accident, 891 million
3. Worst Ex Ever, 830 million
4. Kaos (Netflix), 511 million
5. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), 460 million
6. The Umbrella Academy (Netflix), 393 million
7. Futurama (Hulu), 360 million
8. Emily in Paris (Netflix), 348 million
9. Love Is Blind: UK (Netflix), 321 million
10. Love Island (Hulu/Netflix/Peacock), 296 million

Acquired Series

1. Prison Break, 1.19 billion minutes
2. Family Guy, 1.01 billion
3. A Discovery of Witches, 915 million
4. Dark Winds, 890 million
5. Bluey, 860 million
6. Grey’s Anatomy, 742 million
7. Bob’s Burgers, 693 million
8. The Walking Dead (Netflix), 688 million
9. Dexter (Netflix/Paramount+), 655 million
10. Preacher (Netflix), 628 million

Movies

1. The Deliverance (Netflix), 635 million
2. The Union (2024) (Netflix), 548 million
3. Migration (Netflix), 455 million
4. The Fall Guy (Peacock), 384 million
5. Incoming (Netflix), 353 million
6. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (Max), 277 million
7. A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount+), 248 million
8. Logan Lucky (Netflix), 228 million
9. Trolls Band Together (Netflix), 214 million
10. Untold: Sign Stealer (Netflix), 212 million

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