Sofia Martinez
Netflix said it achieved its highest Christmas Day viewership ever this year, with the second volume of Stranger Things Season 5 leading the surge. The company did not provide an exact Dec. 25 total — a figure that would also include Netflix’s two NFL games and other holiday viewing.
Stranger Things Season 5 was the most-watched title worldwide on Dec. 25 after Netflix released three new episodes from Volume 2. The season drew 34.5 million views during the week of Dec. 22–28, its second-best weekly total after a 59.6 million-view debut in November, which remains Netflix’s best opening week for an English-language title.
Netflix does not separate viewership by volume when reporting Top 10 totals. The 59.6 million debut was calculated using the first four episodes’ runtime, while the 34.5 million figure counts all seven available episodes, so it’s not possible to determine whether Volume 1 or Volume 2 had the larger debut.
One episode of Stranger Things Season 5 remains. Netflix will release the series finale in movie theaters and on the streamer concurrently on Dec. 31; that release will start a 91-day window during which the season can accrue viewership that counts toward Netflix’s all-time English-language TV chart.
On the weekly charts, Stranger Things topped the list, followed by South Korea’s The Great Flood and the animated film Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (16.5 million views). Emily in Paris Season 5 was No. 2 on the English-language TV chart with 13.3 million views, Dave Chappelle’s special had 9.2 million, Man Vs. Baby 7.8 million, and earlier Stranger Things seasons and other titles filled out the rest of the top 10, with a fireplace loop title at the bottom with about 3.2 million views.
Written by
Sofia Martinez
Sofia covers the intersection of technology and entertainment, focusing on how streaming services are reshaping the media landscape. She holds a degree in Media Studies and has been featured on multiple podcasts discussing the future of television.