Streaming Ratings: ‘Squid Game’ Scores 2024’s Biggest Premiere
Christmas week brought a bounty of viewing to streaming platforms, with eight titles crossing the billion-minute mark in Nielsen’s streaming ratings. Netflix’s Squid Game, however, stood well apart from the pack.
The Korean hit posted the highest single-week viewing tally for any streaming title in the United States in 2024 with 4.92 billion minutes of viewing for the week of Dec. 23-29. Season two of Squid Game premiered Dec. 26.
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The show’s premiere week was the best for any title in two years, in fact — since Wednesday delivered about 5.3 billion minutes of viewing for the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2022. Squid Game also smashed its own previous high of 3.26 billion minutes during season one’s run in 2021. Netflix had earlier said season two set a worldwide record for a premiere week, based on the streamer’s internal data.
Coming in second overall was Virgin River, Squid Game‘s tonal opposite, at 2.25 billion minutes of viewing, up from 1.82 billion a week earlier, when its sixth season debuted. Paramount+’s breakout Landman (1.08 billion minutes) also topped the billion-minute mark for the first time.
Half of the overall top 10 titles for the week were movies, led by Prime Video’s Christmas action comedy Red One (1.81 billion minutes). Netflix’s Carry-On (1.54 billion) and The Six Triple Eight from Tyler Perry (1.33 billion) also had strong showings, and holiday staples Home Alone (917 million) and Elf (848 million) hit their highest totals of the year.
The other two billion-minute titles were Bluey (1.17 billion on Disney+) — which ends 2024 as the most-streamed show of the year at 55.6 billion minutes — and The Equalizer series (1.05 billion on Netflix and Paramount+). Not listed below are Netflix’s two Christmas NFL games, as Nielsen doesn’t include live sports in its streaming rankings.
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 Dec. 23-29, 2024, are below.
Overall
1. Squid Game (Netflix), 4.92 billion minutes viewed
2. Virgin River (Netflix), 2.25 billion
3. Red One (Prime Video), 1.81 billion
4. Carry-On (Netflix), 1.54 billion
5. The Six Triple Eight (Netflix), 1.33 billion
6. Bluey (Disney+), 1.17 billion
7. Landman (Paramount+), 1.08 billion
8. The Equalizer (TV series) (Netflix/Paramount+), 1.05 billion
9. Home Alone (Disney+), 917 million
10. Elf (Hulu/Max), 848 million
Original Series
1. Squid Game, 4.92 billion minutes
2. Virgin River, 2.25 billion
3. Landman, 1.08 billion
4. Black Doves (Netflix), 448 million
5. No Good Deed (Netflix), 446 million
6. La Palma (Netflix), 435 million
7. Beast Games (Prime Video), 406 million
8. Your Friend, Nate Bargatze (Netflix), 394 million
9. Lioness (Paramount+), 372 million
10. What If …? (Disney+), 367 million
Acquired Series
1. Bluey, 1.17 billion minutes
2. The Equalizer, 1.05 billion
3. Dexter (Netflix/Paramount+), 835 million
4. Family Guy (Hulu), 834 million
5. Bob’s Burgers (Hulu), 820 million
6. SpongeBob SquarePants (Paramount+), 762 million
7. Grey’s Anatomy (Hulu/Netflix), 743 million
8. The Big Bang Theory (Max), 719 million
9. NCIS (Hulu/Netflix/Paramount+), 584 million
10. American Dad (Hulu), 559 million
Movies
1. Red One, 1.81 billion minutes
2. Carry-On, 1.54 billion
3. The Six Triple Eight, 1.33 billion
4. Home Alone, 917 million
5. Elf, 848 million
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (Peacock), 807 million
7. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Max/Netflix), 763 million
8. Die Hard (Hulu), 721 million
9. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Hulu/Max), 705 million
10. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (2018) (Peacock), 704 million
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