Streamers in the United States opted for familiar television fare on streaming platforms in 2024, with original series failing to break into the top 10 most-streamed show across all popular platforms, according to a year-end report released by Nielsen.
The Australian children’s cartoon “Bluey” topped out the chat as the most-streamed show in 2024 with 55.62 billion viewing minutes on Disney Plus, Nielsen said. The show is produced and distributed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC Australia), with Disney having exclusive domestic linear TV and streaming rights in the U.S.
“Grey’s Anatomy,” the long-running medical drama that airs on the American ABC broadcast network in the U.S., was the second most-streamed show of 2024 with 47.85 billion viewing minutes across Netflix and Disney-owned Hulu plus. (Disney also owns ABC, the broadcast network that first airs new episodes of the show.) “Family Guy,” the adult animated sitcom owned by Disney and aired on Fox, grabbed 42.44 billion viewing minutes at Hulu, while Bob’s Burgers was close behind at 36.8 billion viewing minutes.
While time spent with streaming content increased 10 percent on a year-over basis, none of the top 10 most-streamed shows counted by Nielsen were original series on any platform. “Bridgerton” was the most-streamed original series overall, accounting for 21.42 billion minutes at Netflix, while “Fallout” on Prime Video was the most-streamed original series to debut last year, accounting for 11.95 billion minutes.
All told, Nielsen counted 12 trillion streaming minutes throughout 2024, or around 23 million years worth of streaming TV viewing.
For motion pictures, Disney’s animated film “Moana” topped the list, despite being released eight years earlier. The film had 13.03 billion viewing minutes on Disney Plus, compared with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” on Netflix at 11.72 billion. (The Super Maro Bros. Movie first debuted on Peacock in 2023.)
No Apple TV Plus series made the list of most-watched TV shows or films on streaming platforms in terms of viewing minutes, according to the Nielsen charts.
The top 10 streaming programs across different platforms in 2024 were:
- Bluey (Disney Plus) – 55.62 billion viewing minutes
- Grey’s Anatomy (Hulu & Netflix) – 47.85 billion viewing minutes
- Family Guy (Hulu) – 42.44 billion viewing minutes
- Bob’s Burgers (Hulu) – 36.8 billion viewing minutes
- NCIS (Hulu, Netflix & Paramount Plus) – 35.91 billion viewing minutes
- Young Sheldon (Max, Netflix & Paramount Plus) – 32.08 billion viewing minutes
- The Big Bang Theory (Max) – 29.12 billion viewing minutes
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Hulu & Peacock) – 28.72 billion viewing minutes
- Criminal Minds (Hulu & Paramount Plus) – 28.4 billion viewing minutes
- Spongebob Squarepants (Paramount Plus) – 27.87 billion viewing minutes
The top 10 streaming original across different platforms in 2024 were:
- Bridgerton (Netflix) – 21.42 billion viewing minutes
- Love is Blind (Netflix) – 16.45 billion viewing minutes
- The Boys (Prime Video) – 13.58 billion viewing minutes
- The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix) – 12.44 billion viewing minutes
- Fallout (Prime Video) – 11.95 billion viewing minutes
- Futurama (Hulu) – 11.75 billion viewing minutes
- Fool Me Once (Netflix) – 10.89 billion viewing minutes
- Evil (Netflix & Paramount Plus) – 10.76 billion viewing minutes
- Gabby’s Dollhouse (Netflix & Prime Video) – 10.74 billion viewing minutes
- Reacher (Prime Video) – 10.57 billion viewing minutes
The top 10 streaming movies across different platforms in 2024 were:
- Moana (Disney Plus) – 13.03 billion viewing minutes
- Super Mario Bros. Movie (Netflix) – 11.72 billion viewing minutes
- Red One (Prime Video) – 8.28 billion viewing minutes
- Trolls Band Together (Peacock, Netflix & Prime Video) – 7.44 billion viewing minutes
- Minions (Netflix) – 6.77 billion viewing minutes
- Encanto (Disney Plus) – 6.61 billion viewing minutes
- Frozen (Disney Plus) – 6.28 billion viewing minutes
- Paw Patrol: The Movie (Paramount Plus) – 6.05 billion viewing minutes
- Inside Out (Disney Plus) – 5.78 billion viewing minutes
- The Boss Baby (Netflix) 5.59 billion viewing minutes
The data was collected from Nielsen’s panel measurement solution, which is being phased out in favor of other products like Nielsen’s Big Data & Panel measurement solution. The company evaluated a variety of streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount Plus and Peacock.
