'Squid Game' Had Slow Start In The U.S.: Nielsen Data

Although Netflix may have its biggest worldwide hit ever with “Squid Game” -- the nine-episode South Korean series viewed by 111 million global accounts over a 28-day period -- U.S. account holders aren’t all that game.

In its first week of Nielsen measurement -- September 13-19 -- the show didn’t even get into the top 10 of acquired programming among the top four streaming services -- just 206 million minutes. The series debuted September 17.

With only two days of viewing counted by Nielsen so far for “Squid,” analysts say its numbers can rise. Netflix has 209 million global subscribers and 74 million U.S. subscribers.

First place among acquired programs went to Netflix’s “Manifest” at 712 million minutes. Tenth place went to Netflix's "Schitts Creek" at 272 million minutes.

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Looking at the broader view of streaming programming, the overall leader among the four top streaming services -- Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and Amazon -- was Netflix’s “Lucifer,” which earned 1.59 billion minutes for the period. The show released a new season of 10 episodes Sept. 10.

Netflix’s “Clickbait” came in a distant second place -- 732 million minutes. “Manifest” in third at 712 million and “Cocomelon” at 703 million.

A week ago, from Sept. 6-12, “Clickbait” was narrowly on top over “Lucifer” -- 1.11 billion minutes to 1.05 billion, respectively.

“Kate,” from Netflix, was the best performing streaming movie -- at 413 million minutes. Amazon’s “Safe House” at 355 million minutes was next, followed by Netflix’s “An Unfinished Life” at 253 million minutes.

1 comment about "'Squid Game' Had Slow Start In The U.S.: Nielsen Data".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, October 15, 2021 at 2:50 p.m.

    Wayne, I wonder how anyone who reads these millions of minutes figures evaluates them---except some are larger than others. For example, what's the norm for new shows during the same period? Or how do these stats compare with typical "linear TV" audience projections for new prime time shows?I'm not blaming you---it's just that reporting the "digital way" ---which is how these stats are presented doesn't---- give you the dimensional frame of reference that TV's average minute tallies do---as these level the playing field.

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