The latest Nielsen ratings are out, and once again Cobra Kai keeps the #1 position — we dig a little deeper into the numbers
Last week we saw Cobra Kai at the top of the Nielsen ratings for the second week running, and it keeps that position once more. Cheer has entered the chart at #2, with most other titles staying at or near last week’s placings. At the end of our analysis we said:
The Netflix data for the subsequent week shows Cheer riding high (over Cobra Kai season 4), The Witcher dropping and Archive 81 entering the chart. Add in some Boba Fett and we suspect more Wheel of Time and there’s plenty to look forward to…
Of course we had the benefit of detailed Netflix data, and the streamer did take 9/10 of the latest table, so the prediction wasn’t the hardest to make! To give ourselves more of a challenge, we gave all our computer resources to the search for aliens, SETI@Home, and did our analysis on the back of an envelope. Sadly the envelope was then used to post a Valentine’s card to the Isle of Sheppey before we could take the results. Luckily we still had the analysis written on the back of a spare postage stamp.
Let’s start with the published data…
The latest Nielsens
We took the data from the week January 10-16, and add columns marked ‘*’. It US data only.
| Rank | Streamer | Series | #Episodes | Ep length (mins)* | Total Minutes (Millions) | Episode Watches* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netflix | Cobra Kai | 40 | 34 | 1,038 | 30,529,412 |
| 2 | Netflix | Cheer | 15 | 50 | 629 | 12,580,000 |
| 3 | Netflix | The Witcher | 16 | 60 | 624 | 10,400,000 |
| 4 | Netflix | Stay Close | 8 | 45 | 558 | 12,400,000 |
| 5 | Disney+ | The Book Of Boba Fett | 3 | 43 | 467 | 10,860,465 |
| 6 | Netflix | Queer Eye | 52 | 50 | 394 | 7,880,000 |
| 7 | Netflix | Emily In Paris | 20 | 30 | 357 | 11,900,000 |
| 8 | Netflix | Archive 81 | 8 | 55 | 329 | 5,981,818 |
| 9 | Netflix | Ozark | 30 | 60 | 324 | 5,400,000 |
| 10 | Netflix | Undercover | 26 | 50 | 277 | 5,540,000 |
Cobra Kai keeps the top spot
It’s a big lead at the top of the table, but compared to last week’s 2,153 million minutes, a massive drop. Don’t forget this is a mix of more than one season as well. As a reminder, the Netflix data for that week actually has Cobra Kai in second, and only season 4 in the top 10 at all, a far cry from last week. The Nielsens will gave grabbed data from lower down to produce its amalgamated figure.
What else happened?
As we just noted, Cheer season 2 was the single most popular season (not series) on Netflix, but given it’s a docuseries about a US cheerleading team, we feel its appeal is rather restricted. If we look at some other shows, The Witcher is still showing well, though down from last week’s 1,105 million — that’s as large a percentage drop as Cobra Kai. Emily in Paris showed a chunky drop as well, reflecting a general movement away from the big titles this time.
Even sole Disney entry The Book of Boba Fett showed a slight drop, but this is only after three episodes. It’s a show we’ll be looking out for next time.
Archive 81 makes #8, and again we wonder if this show might rise on word of mouth. Ozark also appears, and we assume it’s rewatches ahead of the launch of a new season.
What do we expect next?
We have the Netflix data to look at, and for January 17-23 it suggests Ozark and Archive 81 will top the chart. We can add Cheer and Too Hot to Handle to the mix as well. We’ll be watching out for Boba Fett, and look forward to touching base with you again next time.