'Stranger Things 4' Is Netflix’s Second Show to Hit 1 Billion Hours Watched
Will Stranger Things 4 pass Squid Game as the most-watched Netflix show?
Stranger Thingswas an instant hit when it first debuted back in 2016 and has kept that momentum up ever since. The most recent season of the Duffer Brothers' hit series dropped on May 27 with its first installment. Many of us were excited to return to Hawkins and see what Upside Down creature our favorite characters had to face.
According to Netflix’s viewership measurement system, Stranger Things 4just became the second Netflix show to surpass a billion hours viewed. Since the season four release, viewers have spent a cumulative 1.15 billion hours watching the nine episodes, which includes the 301 million hours watched over this past weekend when the second installment dropped.
Netflix also reported that Stranger Things 4 was in Netflix’s Top 10 in 93 countries this weekend, and the season’s popularity has prompted many viewers to go back and rewatch older seasons.
Although Stranger Things 4 is racking up some impressive numbers, The Verge reports that the series is still behind Squid Gamefor the most-watched Netflix show. Despite its shorter episodes and lack of marketing strategy in comparison to Stranger Things, Squid Game holds the title of the most-watched show, with 1.65 billion hours viewed.
Could Stranger Things 4 catch up? It’s tricky, since Netflix’s numbers will no longer count the first installment of the fourth season due to its notoriously weird and confusing system.
The service tracks how much a show is viewed in the first 28 days after its release, but those numbers vary based on how the episodes are released, how long they are, and a few other factors. Perhaps splitting the season will help Stranger Things pick up viewer hours with its long, almost feature-length episodes, which could prompt Netflix to find a new release strategy to keep its viewership up.
Even with its season finale being two and half hours long, the current season is extremely popular and sets the show up for a huge and satisfying final season. As one of Netflix’s biggest shows, the company will keep pulling out all of its best tricks to get people tuning in to Stranger Things 5.
What do you think of the current season of Stranger Things? Let us know in the comments!
Source: The Verge
