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Netflix closed out the Christmas holiday with its strongest viewership performance ever and Stranger Things Season 5 was the clear driver behind the surge. Following the release of Volume 2 which included three new episodes the series dominated viewing on December 25 and helped push Netflix to historic levels of holiday engagement.
Although Netflix did not disclose an exact total number of viewers for Christmas Day the company confirmed that this year marked its highest Christmas Day viewership of all time. That figure also includes other programming such as Netflix’s two NFL games and seasonal content but Stranger Things Season 5 emerged as the most watched title worldwide on the day the new episodes arrived.
For the week of December 22 through December 28 Stranger Things Season 5 amassed 34.5 million views globally. This marked the second strongest weekly performance for the season. Its debut week in November brought in 59.6 million views which stood as Netflix’s biggest opening week ever for an English language television series. The latest numbers underline the show’s continued momentum even weeks after its initial release.
It is important to note how Netflix calculates its viewing figures. The platform does not break out viewership by volume when reporting its Top 10 rankings. The 59.6 million views reported for the debut week were calculated using the total viewing hours divided by the runtime of the first four episodes. In contrast the 34.5 million views reported this week are based on all seven episodes currently available. Because of this difference it is not possible to determine whether Volume 1 or Volume 2 had a larger debut on its own.
Despite that limitation the performance clearly places Stranger Things Season 5 among Netflix’s most successful releases. There is still one episode remaining in the season and Netflix has taken an unusual approach for its release. The series finale will debut in movie theaters on New Year’s Eve alongside its simultaneous release on the streaming platform. Once the final episode is released the season will officially begin its 91 day eligibility window to qualify for Netflix’s all time most popular English language television list.
During the December 22 to 28 period Stranger Things was the most watched title on the service overall. Close behind was the South Korean film The Great Flood which led the non English language movies chart. In the English language movies category Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch claimed the top spot with 16.5 million views.
On the English language television chart Emily in Paris Season 5 ranked second with 13.3 million views in its second week. The Dave Chappelle special The Unstoppable followed with 9.2 million views. Man Vs. Baby came in fourth with 7.8 million views during its third week on the chart.
Older seasons of Stranger Things also saw renewed interest. Season 1 ranked fifth with 4.8 million views while Season 4 followed closely with 4.1 million. Seasons 3 and 2 landed eighth and ninth respectively each drawing 3.6 million views. Between those entries was Sean Combs The Reckoning which recorded 3.7 million views in its fourth week. Rounding out the chart was Fireplace for Your Home Crackling Birchwood Fireplace with 3.2 million views.
Taken together the numbers highlight the lasting cultural impact of Stranger Things and its ability to draw audiences across multiple seasons. As Netflix heads into the new year the success of Season 5 has already cemented the series as one of the platform’s most powerful franchises and the upcoming finale is poised to push its performance even further.
