Determining the relative success of programs across various streaming platforms presents a challenge, as services typically share viewership data on a limited basis and each employs a unique calculation method.

To address this, Nielsen – the established standard for traditional television ratings and currently integrating streaming data into its analyses – is presenting comparable data at CES. They have published rankings of the most-viewed streaming content from 2020, encompassing Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu.

These rankings are specific to viewers within the United States. Unlike Nielsen’s traditional TV ratings which count total viewers, these measurements are based on the total minutes watched. This contrasts with Netflix’s reporting, which tallies the number of households that viewed a program for at least two minutes, without differentiating between short and extended viewing sessions.

The rankings reveal a strong dominance by Netflix in the original series category, while Disney+ performs well in the movies category. The remaining services did not place within the top ten lists for either category.

Among original series, “Ozark” from Netflix led with 30.5 billion minutes viewed, followed by “Lucifer” (19 billion minutes) and “The Crown” (16.3 billion minutes). “Tiger King,” a significant cultural phenomenon during the pandemic, secured the fourth position with 15.7 billion minutes streamed, although Nielsen’s methodology, considering its limited eight-episode run, may present a disadvantage. A similar consideration likely applies to “The Mandalorian,” the first series on the list not produced by Netflix, with 14.5 billion minutes viewed.

In the movie category, “Frozen II” proved to be the most popular title, debuting on Disney+ and accumulating 14.9 billion minutes viewed. It was followed by “Moana” (Disney+, 10.5 billion minutes), “The Secret Life of Pets 2” (Netflix, 9.1 billion minutes), “Onward” (Disney+, 8.4 billion minutes), and “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” (Netflix, 6.2 billion minutes). Family films appear to have an advantage in this category, potentially due to repeated viewings by children.

In addition to releasing these lists, Nielsen is announcing a new product designed to measure viewership of transactional video on-demand, encompassing movies available for online rental or purchase. While studios already have access to basic purchase data, Nielsen asserts it can provide the broader industry with more granular insights into viewer demographics, including age, gender, ethnicity, and geographic location.

Scott N. Brown, Nielsen’s general manager of audience measurement, stated: