Stranger Things 5 Smashes Records: Netflix's Biggest-Ever English Series Debut With 60 Million Views
The popular sci-fi series premiered on Netflix in 2016 and quickly became one of the platform’s most popular English-language shows.
Stranger Things Season 5 has shattered Netflix premiere records. In its first five days, the series amassed 59.6 million views, becoming the OTT platform’s most-watched English-language show in the debut week.
Soon after its release, fans worldwide rushed to watch the finale of the popular sci-fi series. A lot of anticipation had been building up over the conclusion of the much-loved show.
With massive viewership, Stranger Things Season 5 is now Netflix’s third biggest debut overall, behind Seasons 2 and 3 of the Korean hit Squid Game. "The new season made it into the Top 10 in all 93 countries tracked and reached No. 1 in 90 of them," Netflix announced in a blog post.
Compared to Season 4, the new edition of the show saw a significant jump in viewership. The fourth season opened to 287 million hours watched in 2022, which is around 22 million views, according to The Guardian. However, Season 5 counts five days of viewing, while Season 4 counts only three.
Records Broken By Stranger Things Season 5
“The series as a whole dominated half of this week’s top 10 — another first for any English series. All five seasons of Stranger Things made the list, with the first season at No. 3 (8.9 million views), Season 4 at No. 5 (6.1 million views), Season 2 at No. 6 (5.6 million views), and Season 3 at No. 8 (4.6 million views). Having attracted worldwide admiration, the first four seasons have now accumulated 1.2 billion combined views since their premiere,” Netflix said.
The series premiered on Netflix in 2016 and quickly became one of the platform’s most popular English series. The show launched the careers of Millie Bobby Brown, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink and Gaten Matarazzo.
Set in the 1980s, the show centres around Hawkins, Indiana, a small town facing strange and dangerous otherworldly events. The first four episodes of the eight-episode final season dropped on Nov. 26. Netflix has announced that three more episodes will be released on Christmas and the final episode on New Year’s Eve.
