Squid Game’s first season generated more total viewing hours than the population of the planet has lived since 1900.
How to Play: Guess if the show on the right has MORE or FEWER total hours watched than the one on the left.
Name A
Name B
Top 10 Most-Watched Streaming Series
Streaming hours are reported by Netflix, Disney+, etc. — though methodologies vary. Numbers below are first-month-after-release where applicable.
| # | Name | Hours Watched (millions) | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Squid Game (Netflix S1) | 1,650 | M hours |
| 2 | Stranger Things 4 (Netflix) | 1,352 | M hours |
| 3 | Wednesday (Netflix) | 1,240 | M hours |
| 4 | Dahmer (Netflix) | 856 | M hours |
| 5 | Bridgerton S2 (Netflix) | 656 | M hours |
| 6 | Money Heist Part 5 (Netflix) | 633 | M hours |
| 7 | Bridgerton S1 (Netflix) | 625 | M hours |
| 8 | Inventing Anna (Netflix) | 511 | M hours |
| 9 | Adolescence (Netflix) | 500 | M hours |
| 10 | The Witcher S2 (Netflix) | 484 | M hours |
Streaming Viewership Disclosure
Netflix has shifted from ‘X million accounts watched’ to ‘X million hours watched’ — the latter is harder to game. They publish biannual top-10 lists since 2023.
Disney+, HBO, Apple, etc. don’t publish streaming hours systematically. Numbers above for non-Netflix shows come from third-party trackers (Nielsen, Parrot Analytics).
Squid Game S1 (2021) became Netflix’s biggest debut at 1.65B hours in first 28 days. No Netflix series has approached that since.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most-watched streaming show?
Squid Game Season 1 at 1.65 billion hours in the first 28 days after release.
Are streaming hours comparable to TV ratings?
Roughly. 1B hours ≈ 50M completions for a 20-hour series.
Why aren't HBO/Disney+ on the lead?
They don’t publish streaming hours publicly. Netflix is most transparent.
Was Squid Game S2 successful?
Strong but not S1 — about 25% of S1’s first-month numbers, still a major hit.
Note: Streaming hours per Netflix Top 10 and Nielsen/Parrot Analytics.
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