The Lincoln Lawyer tops the latest Nielsens, but plenty else happened — we take a detailed look
We have the Nielsen Top 10 for Original Streaming for May 16-22, and (no surprise) The Lincoln Lawyer is sitting pretty at #1. Last week we suggested:
The Lincoln Lawyer might take the top spot over Ozark (the Nielsens count all seasons as one, Netflix don’t), and good showings from The Circle and Who Killed Sara? We expect Netflix to dominate with Moon Knight and Outer Range fading from view
As you’ll see from the data, this was one of the easier weeks to get right!
The Nielsen data
Remember, this is a few weeks ago and US only. We add the columns marked ‘*’.
| Rank | Streamer | Series | #Episodes | Ep length (mins)* | Total Minutes (Millions) | Episode Watches* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netflix | The Lincoln Lawyer | 10 | 50 | 1,850 | 37,000,000 |
| 2 | Netflix | Ozark | 44 | 60 | 1,081 | 18,016,667 |
| 3 | Netflix | The Circle | 48 | 50 | 467 | 9,340,000 |
| 4 | Netflix | Grace And Frankie | 95 | 30 | 436 | 14,533,333 |
| 5 | Netflix | Workin’ Moms | 70 | 22 | 410 | 18,636,364 |
| 6 | Netflix | Wrong Side Of The Tracks | 8 | 73 | 382 | 5,232,877 |
| 7 | Netflix | Stranger Things | 25 | 55 | 378 | 6,872,727 |
| 8 | Hulu | Candy (2022) | 5 | 50 | 359 | 7,180,000 |
| 9 | Amazon | Night Sky | 8 | 60 | 352 | 5,866,667 |
| 10 | Netflix | Who Killed Sara? | 25 | 40 | 348 | 8,700,000 |
The Lincoln Lawyer is top of the table
It’s a big lead with the best part of two billion minutes watched, or, in terms of episodes, twice as many as the nearest rival. It’s the normal Week 2 rise we tend to see with big shows released on Friday. This week. the interest is lower down the table.
What else happened?
Ozark has peaked, though still manages a respectable billion minutes. We’ve lost (as expected) Moon Knight and Outer Range but it’s nice to see Prime Video series Night Sky make the chart. More relevant for upcoming weeks is the entry at #7 — yes, Stranger Things makes an appearance as fans have a rewatch ahead of season 4 (arrived on May 27). With the Nielsen ratings combining all seasons, this is people watching the first three seasons (potentially) or at least season 3.
What do we expect next time?
The next set of data includes the first set of Stranger Things numbers for season 4. We know the show has broken records, so it’s easy to predict it will be top of the table. The Netflix data suggests The Lincoln Lawyer will be second, and Ozark still be in the top half. Meanwhile, Disney+ also aired the start of Obi-Wan Kenobi, so a lot of shows on our radar.
We’ll be back next time, with our usual analysis. Meanwhile, if you’re in the UK, enjoy the heatwave!