The second season of Stranger Things has become Netflix's second series to have watched more than 1 billion hours in its first month.
The season 4 of the smash hit sci-fi series has been watched for 1,151, 240,000 hours in its first 28 days, Netflix Inc. NFLX said Tuesday.
That is second only to 2021 s South Korean thriller Squid Game, which was watched for 1,650, 450,000 hours over its first 28 days.
The latest installment of Stranger Things is now Netflix's most watched season of an English-language series, topping Season 2 of Bridgerton, which had 656, 260,000 hours watched. Stranger Things may overtake Squid Game for No. The first seven episodes premiered on May 27, in time for Memorial Day weekend, while the final two episodes dropped Friday, just ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. Netflix only counts hours watched in a series first 28 days since its release, so the tally has already ended for Season 4, Volume 1 of Stranger Things, Volume 2 still has nearly a month to go. Stranger Things has a significant advantage in its enormous running time. While Squid Game ran for nine episodes at about 485 total minutes, Season 4 of Stranger Things has seven episodes and about 778 total minutes, including about 235 minutes for Volume 2. Netflix launched a website last year listing its most popular series and movies, updated every week. Since no other streaming service releases such viewing data, they provide consistent data on what is the most popular on the platform, a metric that is long sought by investors and Hollywood creators, despite the fact that the numbers lack context and make comparisons nearly impossible. Netflix stock has sunk 69% year to date, amid growth worries while the S&P 500 SPX has declined about 20%.