Disney+ landed the No.1 spot on Nielsen’s streaming chart for the week of Dec 21-27 thanks to its release of Pixar’s Soul. The animated film was originally set for theaters but like many 2020 films took a sharp turn in favor of streaming only. Luckily, Nielsen recently began measuring films that go directly to streaming so we can see how the Pixar film performed. Soul garnered 1,669 viewing minutes during the seven days, beating out notable Netflix contenders The Office and Bridgerton.
The Office came in at second place with 1,435 minutes streamed across its 192 episodes. Viewers were bingeing the fan-favorite on Netflix just ahead of its move to NBC’s Peacock at the beginning of the year.
Netflix’s period drama series Bridgerton is at No.3. Viewers streamed 1,204 minutes of the 8-episode series during the week with it’s premiere on Christmas Day. Bridgerton has turned out to be a huge hit for the streamer reaching 63 million households within its first 28 days of release. The series has already been renewed for a second season.
| Persons 2+ Total Minutes Viewed – Week of 12/21/20 – 12/27/20 |
| Rank | SVOD Provider | Program Name | # of Episodes | Minutes (Millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney+ | SOUL (2020) | 1 | 1,669 |
| 2 | Netflix | THE OFFICE | 192 | 1,435 |
| 3 | Netflix | BRIDGERTON | 8 | 1,204 |
| 4 | Netflix | THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) | 1 | 1,113 |
| 5 | Disney+ | THE MANDALORIAN | 16 | 1,024 |
| 6 | Netflix | HOW THE GRINCH STOLE XMAS | 1 | 705 |
| 7 | Netflix | THE CROWN | 40 | 700 |
| 8 | Netflix | GREYS ANATOMY | 366 | 691 |
| 9 | Netflix | CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES 2 | 1 | 660 |
| 10 | Netflix | CRIMINAL MINDS | 277 | 648 |
Another Christmas Day release noticeably missing from the list is WarnerBros. Wonder Woman 1984 which premiered on HBO Max at the same time it was released in theaters. As Nielsen’s streaming charts are relatively new, the ratings only include data on Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix. However, Nielsen plans to continue adding other platforms soon including HBO Max and Peacock.
Nielsen’s streaming ratings currently only measure viewership on connected TVs and not mobile devices.