"Squid Game"
Nielsen: Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Sustained Streaming Domination Through Oct. 17
November 11, 2021
After a record-setting performance in early October, Netflix’s global hit “Squid Game” hardly slowed down, besting all competition on Nielsen’s weekly list of the top streamed movies and shows across household televisions through Oct. 17.
The venerable TV ratings firm tracks Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+ and Apple TV+.
South Korea’s “Squid Game,” a show about a dystopian game show in which contestants wage battles with fatalistic consequences, tracked more than 2.25 billion minutes streamed across nine episodes. That was enough to hold off Netflix series “You” with more than 1.9 billion minutes across 30 episodes, and “The Maid,” with almost 1.5 billion minutes across 10 episodes.
Brian Fuhrer, SVP of product strategy at Nielsen, said “Squid Game” gained global popularity at the start with 60% of viewers being multicultural. That percentage dropped to 40% as the program’s popularity and buzz grew.
“The initial buzz was really driven by Hispanic and African-American homes, and now the rest of the audience is catching up,” Fuhrer said on a video blog post.
Separately, longtime Showtime series “Shameless” made its debut on Netflix, quickly dominating the top licensed programs with 964 million minutes across 134 episodes. The non-PVOD access to Marvel Studios’ Black Widow on Disney+ attracted 441 million minutes streamed.
Original Shows:
| Rank |
SVOD Provider |
Program Name |
Number of Episodes |
Minutes Streamed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netflix | Squid Game | 9 | 2,254 |
| 2 | Netflix | You | 30 | 1,938 |
| 3 | Netflix | Maid (2021) | 10 | 1,474 |
| 4 | Netflix | The Great British Baking Show | 69 | 519 |
| 5 | Netflix | Midnight Mass | 7 | 445 |
| 6 | Netflix | Dave Chappelle: The Closer | 1 | 357 |
| 7 | Apple TV+ | Ted Lasso | 22 | 352 |
| 8 | Hulu | Only Murders In The Building | 9 | 317 |
| 9 | Netflix | On My Block | 38 | 311 |
| 10 | Netflix | Lucifer | 93 | 307 |
Licensed shows:
| Rank |
SVOD Provider |
Program Name |
Number of Episodes |
Minutes Streamed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netflix | Shameless | 134 | 964 |
| 2 | Netflix | Cocomelon | 15 | 662 |
| 3 | Netflix | The Blacklist | 169 | 656 |
| 4 | Netflix | Seinfeld | 166 | 581 |
| 5 | Netflix | NCIS | 353 | 572 |
| 6 | Netflix | Criminal Minds | 317 | 490 |
| 7 | Netflix | Greys Anatomy | 379 | 416 |
| 8 | Netflix | Good Witch | 80 | 357 |
| 9 | Netflix | Heartland | 215 | 352 |
| 10 | Netflix | Supernatural | 328 | 318 |
Movies:
| Rank |
SVOD Provider |
Program Name |
Number |
Minutes Streamed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney+ | Black Widow | 1 | 441 |
| 2 | Disney+ | Hocus Pocus | 1 | 240 |
| 3 | Netflix | Going In Style | 1 | 239 |
| 4 | Netflix | The Forgotten Battle | 1 | 195 |
| 5 | Netflix | Titanic (1997) | 1 | 158 |
| 6 | Disney+ | Moana | 1 | 155 |
| 7 | Netflix | The Guilty (2021) | 1 | 155 |
| 8 | Disney+ | Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas | 1 | 151 |
| 9 | Netflix | My Little Pony: A New Generation | 1 | 136 |
| 10 | Disney+ | Cruella | 1 | 131 |