Nielsen gauges Stranger Things viewership – and it's on par with some of the highest-rated programs on TV (NFLX)

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November 6, 2017 3:18 PM

Netflix's Stranger Things Season 2 averaged 8.8 million US viewers per episode within the first three days of the show’s release

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Netflix's Stranger Things Season 2 averaged 8.8 million US viewers per episode within the first three days of the show’s release, according to Nielsen data cited byVariety.

Additionally, the first episode of the series averaged 15.8 million US viewers within the first three days of the series release.

The numbers from Nielsen come fewer than three weeks after it announcedit would begin measuring Netflix viewership data. Nielsen is only measuring US viewership of Netflix on TV sets, and Netflix is not involved in the effort.

The audience size of Stranger Things Season 2 measures up to some of TV’s highest-rated programs. AMC’s The Walking Dead, which draws some of the largest audiences on TV, drew 11.4 million viewers for its most recent season premiere. The NFL, which also gets some of the highest viewership on TV, averaged 15.1 million viewers per game this season through week 7. This is important because Netflix is the dominant over-the-top (OTT) player, and the viewership data can give media executives a clearer picture of current consumer behavior in the media ecosystem.

Publicly available Netflix viewership data can help make it a more attractive destination for creators. It provides a ballpark idea of how many viewers consume its content. Creators will be able to see how Netflix's audiences stack up to programming on other TV and video platforms. As a result, they may become incentivized to create for Netflix over traditional TV networks and other subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms like HBO and Hulu.

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