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The competition show based on Netflix’s runaway hit is the top series in Nielsen’s rankings for Thanksgiving week.
By Rick Porter
Television Writer
Squid Game: The Challenge may not be as big as the show that inspired it, but the competition series still got off to a very strong start.
Netflix’s unscripted offshoot of its most popular series of all time scored a strong opening in the Nielsen streaming rankings for Thanksgiving week. Adam Sandler’s animated movie Leo claimed the top spot overall, and Young Sheldon also joined the top 10 after making its Netflix debut.
Squid Game: The Challenge drew 1.42 billion minutes of viewing in the United States for the week of Nov. 20-26. It was the top streaming series for the week, beating out Bluey (1.17 billion minutes) on Disney+, and finished second overall behind the 1.53 billion minutes for Leo.
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The Crown, which finished first overall the previous week, slipped to second among originals with 835 million minutes of viewing, an 11.5 percent decline from a week earlier. Disney+’s The Santa Clauses (408 million minutes) re-entered the top 10 original series list midway through its second season as part of a wave of holiday programming on the charts — half of the top 10 movies were also Christmas films.
Young Sheldon racked up a combined 963 million minutes of viewing on Netflix and Max after becoming available on Netflix Nov. 24. Its parent show, The Big Bang Theory, had 590 million minutes of watch time (it’s exclusive to Max). Also debuting on the acquired series list was former BET+ show First Wives Club, which had 755 million minutes of viewing on Netflix. (BET+ is not among the streaming platforms Nielsen includes in its weekly rankings.)
Nielsen’s streaming ratings cover viewing on TV sets only and don’t include minutes watched on computers or mobile devices. The ratings only measure U.S. audiences, not those in other countries. The top streaming titles for Nov. 20-26 are below.
Overall
1. Leo (Netflix), 1.53 billion minutes viewed
2. Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix), 1.42 billion
3. Bluey (Disney+), 1.17 billion
4. Young Sheldon (Max/Netflix), 963 million
5. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix), 861 million
6. The Crown (Netflix), 835 million
7. NCIS (Netflix/Paramount+), 763 million
8. Suits (Netflix/Peacock), 755 million
8 (tie) First Wives Club (Netflix), 755 million
10. Friends (Max), 716 million
Original Series
1. Squid Game: The Challenge, 1.42 billion minutes
2. The Crown, 835 million
3. The Great British Baking Show (Netflix), 437 million
4. The Santa Clauses (Disney+), 408 million
5. A Nearly Normal Family (Netflix), 373 million
6. Cocomelon Lane (Netflix), 291 million
7. Criminal Code (Netflix), 282 million
8. All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix), 267 million
9. Loki (Disney+), 262 million
10. Invincible (Prime Video), 248 million
Acquired Series
1. Bluey, 1.17 billion minutes
2. Young Sheldon, 963 million
3. Grey’s Anatomy, 861 million
4. NCIS, 763 million
5. Suits, 755 million
5 (tie). First Wives Club, 755 million
7. Friends, 716 million
8. Six Feet Under (Max/Netflix), 592 million
9. The Big Bang Theory (Max), 590 million
10. Cocomelon (Netflix), 541 million
Movies
1. Leo, 1.53 billion minutes
2. Elf (Hulu/Max), 664 million
3. Home Alone (Disney+), 631 million
4. The Grinch (2018) (Peacock), 480 million
5. Blue Beetle (Max), 413 million
6. Genie (Peacock), 407 million
7. Best. Christmas. Ever! (Netflix), 394 million
8. Elemental (Disney+), 371 million
9. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Netflix), 355 million
10. Christmas Vacation (Hulu/Max), 341 million
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