• by Wayne Friedman , 3 hours ago

Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL game viewing and its “Stranger Things” series scored good holiday news over the seven-day period -- on and off its streaming platform.

Netflix posted its best streaming platform results so far for a single Christmas Day game between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings -- with 27.5 million Nielsen-measured viewers, up 13% from a year ago from its high of 24.3 million for the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans game.

Earlier in the day, the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Commanders game posted 19.9 million -- giving Netflix an average 23.7 million for the day.

The two combined games were down slightly (2%) compared to results of the previous year's Christmas Day games featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens-Texans -- averaging 24.2 million viewers.

Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” also aired its first Christmas Day game between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs. It averaged 21.1 million viewers -- the most- watched “TNF” regular-season game ever.

Perhaps the most surprising news came with its “Stranger Things: The Finale” show, where its two-hour episode was aired simultaneously in movie theaters and on its streaming platform.

The finale episode of the longtime Netflix TV show gained an estimated $20 million to $25 million from being shown in 600 theaters, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

This result runs counter to some general competitive wisdom, according to analysts.

Netflix has been criticized for its position as a competitor against the movie-theater business -- as streaming platforms continue to gain strength as a strong option to theatrical moviegoing viewing.