‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Bluey,’ ‘The Pitt’ Top Nielsen’s Streaming Charts Through First Half of 2026

'Stranger Things' Leads All Streaming Titles with 23.3 Billion Minutes in First Half of 2026 as Top 5 Titles Each Generate Over 20B Minutes

'Bluey' Remains a Fan Favorite at No. 2 with 22.8 Billion Minutes on Disney+

Multiple Originals See Season 2 Success, Including 'The Pitt' (HBO Max), 'Landman' (Paramount+), 'Fallout' (Prime Video)

'Zootopia 2' on Disney+ Tops Kids Movies, Netflix's 'The Rip' Leads General Audience Movies

NEW YORK - August 4, 2026 - The crown for most-watched streaming title through the first six months of 2026 belonged to Netflix's Stranger Things, according to Nielsen's Streaming Landscape 2026: Trends from the First Half of the Year. Stranger Things commanded 23.26 billion viewing minutes on Netflix from January through June (12/29/25 - 06/28/26).

Streaming originals occupied three of the top 10 overall slots at the halfway point of the year, a significant change from the 2025 half-year report where only one original series made the top 10. Additionally, five streaming titles racked up over 20 billion minutes a piece through the first six months of the year, while just two exceeded that threshold in 2025. The top 10 overall streaming titles so far this year are:

1. Stranger Things , Netflix, 23.26 billion minutes
2. Bluey , Disney+, 22.81 billion minutes
3. The Pitt , HBO Max, 21.12 billion minutes
4. Grey's Anatomy , Hulu/Netflix, 20.41 billion minutes
5. The Big Bang Theory , HBO Max, 20.40 billion minutes
6. Bridgerton , Netflix, 17.15 billion minutes
7. Spongebob Squarepants , Paramount+, 16.89 billion minutes
8. Family Guy , Hulu, 15.96 billion minutes
9. Bob's Burgers , Hulu, 15.01 billion minutes
10. Paw Patrol , Prime Video / Paramount+, 13.56 billion minutes

Stranger Things ended its five-season run on Netflix with several Nielsen records under its belt, including the record for most-watched streaming original of all time. It also set a new record for highest weekly viewing total in Nielsen's Streaming Top 10 with 8.65 billion viewing minutes during the week of 12/29/2025 - 01/04/2026 (the first week of the January 2026 interval and the same week of its series finale).

Bluey topped acquired titles and finished second overall, as the reigning Nielsen ARTEY Award winner totaled 22.81 billion viewing minutes on Disney+ so far this year.

HBO Max series The Pitt was the second most-watched among originals with 21.12 billion minutes in the first six months of the year, as its sophomore season saw a big lift in viewership over season one. Additional season two standouts among original series included Landman on Paramount+ (12.40 billion minutes, #4 original and #13 overall), Prime Video's Fallout (7.98 billion minutes, #9 original), Hulu's Paradise (5.66 billion minutes, #14 original) and One Pieceon Netflix (5.66 billion minutes, #15 original).

Grey's Anatomy and The Big Bang Theory are mainstays in Nielsen's Streaming Top 10 and have been among the annual top streaming titles for several consecutive years. Through June of 2026, Grey's Anatomy has driven 20.41 billion minutes across Hulu and Netflix, and The Big Bang Theory has 20.40 billion minutes on HBO Max.

The number of unscripted series to make the bi-annual charts climbed from two last year (Love is Blind and Love Island USA) to five in 2026: Peacock's The Traitors (7.74 billion minutes, #11 original) Peacock's Love Island USA (7.62 billion minutes, #13 original), Netflix'sLove is Blind (5.54 billion minutes, #16 original), The First 48 on Hulu/Peacock/PlutoTV (11.33 billion minutes, #14 acquired and #18 overall) and Survivor on Paramount+ (9.36 billion minutes, #20 acquired). The Traitors and Love Island USA were also top shows among adults 18-34.

Top streaming movies were categorized to reflect viewing among kids aged 2-11 and general audiences. Titles classified as kids movies generated at least 30% of minutes from viewers 2-11, whereas general audience movies captured at least 70% of minutes from viewers 12 and older. Zootopia 2 led kids movie viewing with 6.54 billion minutes on Disney+. KPop Demon Hunters took second place with 5.59 billion viewing minutes on Netflix as the top kids movie of 2025 continued to draw strong viewership into 2026.

Leading movies among general audiences was Netflix's The Rip, co-starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, totaling 4.43 billion minutes since its premiere in January. It was followed by fellow Netflix film War Machine with 3.53 billion minutes.

Continue reading Streaming Landscape 2026: Trends from the First Half of the Year for a full list of the top 20 streaming programs across original series, acquired series, and kids and general audience movies.

The top streaming programs are based on total viewing during the January 2026 to June 2026 interval (12/29/25 - 06/28/26), and are ranked on total viewing minutes by Persons 2+ with data sourced through Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings, Nielsen's streaming program measurement service that provides program and episode level viewing metrics (e.g. ratings, reach, frequency, co-viewing, etc.) across non-linear TV viewing sources with audience breakouts available by persons- and household-level demographics (e.g. age, gender, race, ethnicity), all market breaks, device, platform, etc. Nielsen will release the full-year list of top streaming programs at the end of 2026, and will continue to release our weekly Streaming Top 10 lists.

As the industry leader in streaming measurement, insights and intelligence, Nielsen measures over 1 trillion minutes of streaming viewing across all platforms in a typical month. Nielsen has integrated thousands of streaming meters into its panel of more than 40,000 households, further enabling its unique capabilities for all streaming measurement.

About Nielsen

Nielsen is a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their global audiences-now and into the future. Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media (X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram).

Lauren Pabst, [email protected]

Emily Scoble, [email protected]