Stranger Things was far and away the most watched original series on any streaming platform in 2025. It was so big, in fact, that just the five weeks at the end of the year when its final season debuted led all others.
What Stranger Things was not, though, was No. 1 overall for the year in streaming. That title once again belongs to Bluey, the beloved kids show that racked up more viewing time than anything else in Nielsen’s streaming ratings.
The ratings service’s year-end totals have Bluey at 45.2 billion minutes of viewing time on Disney+, leading the rankings for the second straight year (it also finished second overall to Suits in 2023). Grey’s Anatomy and its more than 450-episode library took second place with 40.92 billion minutes of viewing on Netflix and Hulu, and Stranger Things (39.95 billion minutes) came in third overall.
Nielsen says U.S. viewers watched a staggering 16.7 trillion minutes of programming on streaming platforms last year, up 19 percent from 2024. That equates to 31.7 million years of linear time.
Nielsen’s top 10s in streaming for 2025 are below.
Overall Top 10 of 2025
| 1 | Bluey | Disney+ | 45.20 | 154 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Grey’s Anatomy | Hulu / Netflix | 40.92 | 455 |
| 3 | Stranger Things | Netflix | 39.95 | 41 |
| 4 | NCIS | Hulu / Netflix / Paramount+/ Pluto TV | 36.94 | 497 |
| 5 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Paramount+ | 34.35 | 323 |
| 6 | Bob’s Burgers | Hulu | 34.08 | 302 |
| 7 | Family Guy | Hulu | 33.37 | 455 |
| 8 | The Big Bang Theory | HBO Max | 32.45 | 281 |
| 9 | Law & Order: SVU | Hulu / Peacock | 26.76 | 583 |
| 10 | Criminal Minds | Hulu / Paramount+ | 24.15 | 359 |
Top 10 General Interest Movies of 2025
| 1 | Happy Gilmore 2 | Netflix | 7.07 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Wicked | Peacock / Prime Video | 6.82 |
| 3 | Back in Action | Netflix | 6.00 |
| 4 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | Peacock / HBO Max | 4.95 |
| 5 | Home Alone | Hulu / Disney+ | 4.49 |
| 6 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Peacock / HBO Max | 4.44 |
| 7 | The Accountant 2 | Prime Video | 4.16 |
| 8 | The Electric State | Netflix | 3.86 |
| 9 | Kraven the Hunter | Netflix | 3.67 |
| 10 | Madea’s Destination Wedding | Netflix | 3.57 |
Top 10 Original Series of 2025
| 1 | Stranger Things | Netflix | 39.95 | 41 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Squid Game | Netflix | 22.41 | 22 |
| 3 | Wednesday | Netflix | 20.00 | 16 |
| 4 | Landman | Paramount+ | 18.88 | 17 |
| 5 | Reacher | Prime Video | 15.64 | 24 |
| 6 | Ginny & Georgia | Netflix | 14.25 | 30 |
| 7 | Love Island USA | Peacock | 13.46 | 247 |
| 8 | The Night Agent | Netflix | 13.19 | 20 |
| 9 | Love Is Blind | Netflix | 12.50 | 123 |
| 10 | Gabby’s Dollhouse | Netflix / Prime Video | 11.99 | 85 |
