• by Wayne Friedman , January 26, 2023

Led by the dominant Netflix original series “Stranger Things,” Netflix tallied 11 of the top 15 streaming programs and the top four overall in 2022.

First-place “Stranger Things” posted 52 billion minutes viewed for persons two years and older for the entire year, according to Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings.

Second place went to Netflix acquired TV series “NCIS” at 38.1 billion. In third place was another Netflix-acquired series, “Cocomelon,” at 37.8 million, and fourth place went to Netflix's original “Ozark” with 31.3 million.

These full-year ratings (December 27, 2021-December 25, 2022) include shows from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Hulu. HBO Max was included in Nielsen streaming results starting on May 30, and Peacock starting on September 26.

Disney+ had three series in the top 15 -- its original movie “Encanto,” acquired series “Bluey,” and “The Simpsons.”

Looking at just original streaming programs, Netflix did even better -- 13 of the top 15, and all top 10. Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” came in 11th place (10.6 billion minutes) and “The Rings of Power” in 15th place (9.4 billion minutes).

Netflix also had 10 of the top 15 acquired program series. The only category that Netflix did not win was in streaming movies.

Disney+ had 10 of the top 15 including the top two -- "Encanto" (27.4 billion minutes) and “Turning Red” (11.4 billion minutes). Netflix had the other five with its top film “Sing 2” (11.3 billion).

Nielsen says that in total, Americans streamed what amounted to 19.4 million years of content in 2022 -- up 27% from the year before -- which totaled 15 million years. It credits new and expanded streaming services and the deep level of content available.

Nielsen also notes that release timing of content pushed certain series TV series and movies higher -- for example, those that gave streaming viewers a full 12 months to consume new and/or previously released content -- with “Stranger Things” and “Encanto” as two examples.