Streaming Milestone: Nielsen Records Biggest Week Ever for U.S. Viewing

The week that includes the July 4 holiday is usually a big one for streaming services — but it’s never been as big as this year.

Nielsen’s streaming content ratings show the week of July 1-7 as the biggest one ever since the measurement firm began regularly tracking streaming several years ago. TV users spent 313 billion minutes on streaming platforms for the week, and for the first time, every entrant in the top 10 overall titles had at least 1 billion minutes of viewing.

The previous biggest week came just seven days earlier, when seven of the overall top 10 crossed the billion-minute mark.

The top 10 was led by Netflix’s movie Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which premiered July 3 and had 2.05 billion minutes of viewing. Suits (1.5 billion minutessurged back into the top 10 after the show’s final season made its Netflix debut; it had been exclusive to Peacock during last year’s record-breaking run.

House of the Dragon set its second series high in the past three weeks with 1.3 billion minutes of viewing on Max (which doesn’t include any on-air viewing on HBO). Your Honor (1.23 billion minutes on Netflix and Paramount+) continued its strong summer, and The Bear (1.21 billion minutes on Hulu) lost almost none of its series record audience from the prior week.

The past two Independence Day weeks have featured higher No. 1s — Suits hit 3.67 billion minutes last year, and Stranger Things recorded 4.8 billion in 2022 — but neither of them had the breadth of big titles as this year’s.

Nielsen’s streaming ratings cover viewing on TV sets only and don’t include minutes watched on computers or mobile devices. The ratings only measure U.S. audiences, not those in other countries. The top streaming titles for July 1-7, 2024, are below.

Overall

1. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (Netflix), 2.05 billion minutes viewed
2. Suits (Netflix/Peacock), 1.5 billion
3. House of the Dragon (Max), 1.3 billion
4. Your Honor (Netflix/Paramount+), 1.23 billion
5. The Bear (Hulu), 1.21 billion
6. Dexter (Netflix/Paramount+), 1.2 billion
7. The Boys (Prime Video), 1.13 billion
8. Bluey (Disney+), 1.09 billion
9. A Family Affair (Netflix), 1.05 billion
10. Grey’s Anatomy (Hulu/Netflix), 1.02 billion

Original Series

1. The Bear, 1.21 billion minutes
2. The Boys, 1.13 billion
3. Supacell (Netflix), 806 million
4. Worst Roommate Ever (Netflix), 691 million
5. Love Island (Hulu/Netflix/Peacock), 673 million
6. Bridgerton (Netflix), 628 million
7. The Mole (Netflix), 439 million
8. Owning Manhattan (Netflix), 386 million
9. Evil (Netflix/Paramount+), 362 million
10. The Man With 1,000 Kids (Netflix), 332 million

Acquired Series

1. Suits, 1.5 billion minutes
2. House of the Dragon, 1.3 billion
3. Your Honor, 1.23 billion
4. Dexter, 1.2 billion
5. Bluey, 1.09 billion
6. Grey’s Anatomy, 1.02 billion
7. Family Guy (Hulu), 862 million
8. Bob’s Burgers (Hulu), 837 million
9. NCIS (Netflix/Paramount+), 814 million
10. Criminal Minds (Hulu/Paramount+), 799 million

Movies

1. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, 2.05 billion minutes
2. A Family Affair, 1.05 billion
3. Paw Patrol: The Movie (Netflix/Paramount+), 522 million
4. Warcraft (Netflix), 510 million
5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Hulu/Max), 485 million
6. Inside Out (Disney+), 340 million
7. Independence Day (Hulu), 294 million
8. Minions (Netflix), 276 million
9. Trigger Warning (Netflix), 228 million
10. Moana (Disney+), 211 million