• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

For the first six months of 2026, Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and HBO Max's “The Pitt” claimed first- and third-place results in terms of total Nielsen-measured minutes viewed of persons two years and up  -- at 23.3 billion and 21.1 billion, respectively.

They were two of four original streaming shows to make the top 20 programming. The other two were “Bridgerton” in 6th place, at 17.5 billion minutes, and “Landman," in 13th place, at 12.4 billion.

Sixteen of the top 20 streaming aired programs in the first half of the year began their journey on national TV networks.

The highest  non-streaming original show -- “Bluey” -- came in at second place, aired by Disney Jr. cable TV. “Bluey” is an ABC Kids Australian Broadcasting Corporation/BBC Studios produced show

ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” came in fourth place (20.4 billion). Next was “Big Bang Theory” in fifth place with 20.4 billion.

Two Fox Television Network shows -- “Family Guy” and “Bob's Burgers” -- were in eighth and ninth place at 16.96 billion and 15.01 minutes, respectively. Nickelodeon’s “Paw Patrol” came in 10th place at 13.6 billion minutes.

The next ten placings were also accompanied by TV series that originated on linear TV including ABC’s “The Rookie,” NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU,” CBS’s “NCIS” and NBC’s “Friends.”

During the first six months of 2025, only three of the most-viewed programs came from original streaming shows: Netflix’s “Squid Game,” Prime Video’s “Reacher” and Netflix’s “The Night Agent.”

Most shows have multi-streaming platforms airing a series, which may be split among different seasons. For example, NCIS has four different places to see shows -- Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Hulu has the most programs on the current six-month list, with nine. Netflix and Paramount+ have six each, while HBO Max and Peacock have four each, Pluto TV has three, and Disney+ has one.