52 billion minutes.
That’s how much Stranger Things was consumed by Netflix subscribers in 2022. 52 billion! That is the equivalent of 98,934 years. Of Stranger Things!
That is according to Nielsen, who released their report on the top streaming titles of the year, with the monstrous Netflix hit (clearly) running away with the number one slot. The second-most-streamed show of 2022 was NCIS, the long-running CBS series that is also available on Netflix. Some 38 billion minutes of NCIS were watched in 2022 — or 72,298 years. (Only 72,298 years? Pathetic.) The #3 title on the overall list was the hugely popular children’s show Cocomelon, which is also available on Netflix.
And Netflix was the dominant force in streaming in general, with 13 of the top 15 original streaming shows of the year all belonging to the site. Other much-watched Netflix titles include their new hits Wednesday and Dahmer, along with longtime favorites like Cobra Kai, Bridgerton, and Ozark. (The only non-Netflix shows in the top 15 were Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and The Boys.)
The list of the most-streamed acquired series was a mix of new and ongoing shows like NCIS and Cocomelon, followed by Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and Bluey, and older favorites like Gilmore Girls, Seinfeld, and Friends. Meanwhile, the most-streamed movie of 2022 was actually a 2021 release: Disney’s Encanto, which according to Nielsen was viewed for 27.4 billion minutes last year. The top 2022 film was another Disney title, the streaming-exclusive Pixar film Turning Red, with 11.4 billion minutes. Netflix’s top original film of 2022 by their measurement was the Ryan Reynolds thriller The Adam Project.
Keep all of these numbers in mind when you wonder “Why are they making another spinoff of Stranger Things?” or “Why did they cancel Show X that I was obsessed with?”
The Most Popular Shows on Netflix in 2022
These were the most-watched shows on Netflix over the course of 2022.