<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



The newly-released fourth season of Netflix’s&nbsp;Stranger Things&nbsp;officially became the streaming service’s most watched English-language series ever Tuesday, breaking a record held by the second season of&nbsp;Bridgerton&nbsp;in less than three weeks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Over 781 million hours of&nbsp;Stranger Things 4&nbsp;has been viewed on the platform since its premiere on May 27, Netflix&nbsp;<a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/top-10-week-of-june-6-hustle-scores-big-stranger-things-4-is-netflixs-most" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a>&nbsp;Tuesday.



By comparison, after its March premiere, subscribers watched 656.2 million hours of&nbsp;Bridgerton&nbsp;season 2 in its first 28 days on the platform.



Stranger Things 4&nbsp;still has over a week before it reaches its 28 day-benchmark on Netflix, and viewership is still rising.



Fans waited three years for the fourth season of Stranger Things, the third season aired in 2019.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-watched-english-language-series-on-netflix-in-first-28-days">MOST-WATCHED ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SERIES ON NETFLIX IN FIRST 28 DAYS</h2>



According to Netflix, whose data is not independently verified.



<ol><li>Stranger Things 4: 781.0 million hours</li><li>Bridgerton&nbsp;Season 2: 656.2 million hours</li><li>Bridgerton&nbsp;Season 1: 625.4 million hours</li><li>Stranger Things 3: 581.1 million hours</li><li>Lucifer&nbsp;Season 5: 569.4 million hours.</li></ol>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



1.65 billion. That’s how many hours&nbsp;Squid Game&nbsp;was watched in its first 28 days on Netflix, making it the most watched non-English series and the most-watched series on the platform overall.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



The final episodes of&nbsp;Stranger Things 4&nbsp;premiere on Netflix on July 1.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The success of&nbsp;Stranger Things 4&nbsp;isn&#8217;t a surprise. In its premiere weekend it set an English-language record on the streaming service. Last week, Nielsen announced&nbsp;Stranger Things&nbsp;became the third show to garner over 5 billion minutes of viewing in a week, joining Netflix hits&nbsp;Tiger King&nbsp;and&nbsp;Ozark.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/06/06/viewers-watched-more-than-5-billion-minutes-of-stranger-things-4-in-a-week-breaking-record/?sh=57caa145b4f0">Viewers Watched More Than 5 Billion Minutes Of ‘Stranger Things 4’ In A Week, Breaking Record</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/05/31/stranger-things-4-sets-netflix-viewership-record-in-opening-weekend/?sh=464ca6644e50">‘Stranger Things 4’ Sets Netflix Viewership Record In Opening Weekend</a> (Forbes)



By Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff

Stranger Things Cast Visits the Empire State Building

‘Stranger Things 4’ Officially Tops ‘Bridgerton’ As Most-Watched English Netflix Series

According to Netflix,&nbsp;Stranger Things 3&nbsp;smashed the streaming giant’s&nbsp; previous ratings record, with over 40 million households streaming the 80s-tastic adventures of Eleven and friends since the&nbsp;July 4 season premiere.



<ul><li>Over 18 million (or about 45%) of the households streaming&nbsp;Stranger Things 3&nbsp;completed the eight-episode season in the same four-day period.</li><li>The previous record holder was&nbsp;Murder Mystery, an Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston comedy, with over 30 million households streaming during its June opening weekend.</li><li>Netflix’s ratings are&nbsp;voluntarily reported&nbsp;by the company and not available to Nielsen or other traditional third-party audience measurers. Meaning there’s no additional, outside verification of Netflix ratings.</li><li>Although Netflix reigned supreme for years in entertainment streaming, competition from Hulu, Amazon, YouTube and others will crowd the playing field and potentially curb subscriber growth across the board, according to The Street.</li><li>Stranger Things 3&nbsp;is a proven cash cow for Netflix. In addition to beating streaming records, the latest season boasted 75 different product tie-ins as&nbsp;brands jockey for association&nbsp;(and dollars) with hot entertainment properties.&nbsp;</li></ul>



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What to watch for:&nbsp;Disney. The House of Mouse, with its 2017, $53 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox, controls a wide swath of successful intellectual property outside of princesses and anthropomorphic animals:&nbsp;Star Wars,&nbsp;Avatar,&nbsp;The Simpsons, Marvel superheroes, Pixar and more are under its purview. Which means Disney may be the biggest media empire in history. Combined with having full control of Hulu and the scheduled November launch of Disney+, its own streaming service (targeted to cost half of a monthly Netflix subscription), Disney is poised to&nbsp;steal Netflix’s streaming spotlight.



-Lisette Voytko;&nbsp;Forbes Staff

Tag: stranger things

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

‘Stranger Things 4’ Officially Tops ‘Bridgerton’ As Most-Watched English Netflix Series

Netflix: ‘Stranger Things 3’ Smashes Its Ratings Record