Squid Game arrives in the Nielsens for 20-26 September — and it’s straight in at #1
As anyone paying attention to the press will have guessed, Squid Game is popular; very popular. We’ve processed the latest Nielsen data, and added our unique analysis. This week we’ve also some extra news about Netflix and ratings data, for those who stay to the end!
Let’s first remind ourselves what we predicted last week:
We predict Lucifer will fall to around 800 million, and Squid Game should make an appearance on its way to total chart domination, perhaps next week if not the week after. Money Heist looks doomed to vanish, and most of the regulars will drop…
We were so pleased with the analysis we gave the team the day off to watch Dune in the penthouse cinema room at Castle Cultbox. We did get them to run the latest data through some Ixian technology [hands up all the Dune fans who spot the reference!] before they went.
This week’s Nielsen data
Usual caveats — this is published data for US viewers and it’s a few weeks old (20-26 September). We add the columns marked ‘*’.
| Rank | Streamer | Series | # Episodes | Ep length (mins)* | Total Minutes (Millions) | Episode Watches* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NETFLIX | Squid Game | 9 | 60 | 1,588 | 26,466,667 |
| 2 | NETFLIX | Lucifer | 93 | 50 | 732 | 14,640,000 |
| 3 | NETFLIX | Sex Education | 24 | 50 | 595 | 11,900,000 |
| 4 | NETFLIX | Midnight Mass | 7 | 65 | 444 | 6,830,769 |
| 5 | APPLE TV+ | Ted Lasso | 20 | 30 | 311 | 10,366,667 |
| 6 | NETFLIX | The Circle | 36 | 55 | 297 | 5,400,000 |
| 7 | NETFLIX | Clickbait | 8 | 45 | 268 | 5,955,556 |
| 8 | NETFLIX | The Great British Baking Show | 66 | 75 | 243 | 3,240,000 |
| 9 | HULU | Only Murders In The Building | 6 | 30 | 242 | 8,066,667 |
| 10 | NETFLIX | Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces Of Billy Milligan | 4 | 60 | 224 | 3,733,333 |
Squid Game arrives
We may have been a little cautious, but with numbers like this, and immediate membership of the billion minutes club, we have to be impressed. It’s the level of viewing many big shows only get on their second week, so this is truly noteworthy. In the past few months, the largest week 1 figure we’ve noted was Outer Banks reaching 1.4 billion. We wonder just how high it can go (see below).
What else happened?
Lucifer dipped even lower than we predicted (despite our stellar review!), and we’re pleased to see Midnight Mass make the chart. The ever-talked about (at least in places we look on the internet) Ted Lasso also hits mid-table. The US named Bake Off is back, and there’s plenty of change.
What do we predict next week?
Starting with the easier end of the table, Squid Game should dominate for some weeks, and we see it comfortably breaking 2 billion minutes (which Outer Banks did in its week 2). Lucifer will fall away to around 450-500, Sex Education should stay firm and we expect Ted Lasso to improve.
Whatever happens (and we like surprises) we’ll bring you our unique insight next time.
That bonus Netflix ratings news
Thanks to Deadline, we learn Netflix is to release more data on viewing figures, this following a leak to Bloomberg recently. The article has the leaked tables and they give some fascinating behind the scenes insight into Netflix numbers. We hope to bring you more on this in the near future. The article is: Netflix Set To Shake Up Ratings Strategy & Plans To Release More Viewing Figures In Future.