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'Stranger Things', 'Ozark' take top spots as most-watched shows of 2022, 'Wednesday' comes in third

'Stranger Things' was streamed for a whopping 52 billion minutes last year, while Ozark came in a distant second with 31.3 billion viewed minutes

BY MAHIMA SATHGURUNANDHAN

PUBLISHED JAN 26, 2023

'Stranger Things', 'Wednesday' and 'Ozark' dominated the streaming charts (IMDb)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The final numbers are in and Netflix has clearly dominated the US streaming industry in 2022. Time-tested favorites 'Stranger Things' and 'Ozark', as well as the new entry 'Wednesday', clinched the top spots as the most-watched shows of 2022. Netflix movies also saw similarly high numbers of viewership.

'Stranger Things' season 4 premiered last year and saw Hawkins in a deadlier state while introducing us to the ultimate big bad of the series - 'Vecna'. The fast-paced storyline and Kate Bush's 'Running Up the Hill' made each of us want to levitate. 'Wednesday', based on the famous 'Addams Family', followed the story of Wednesday Addams in 'Nevermore' as she tries to save the boarding school from the monster Hyde. The 'Wednesday dance' has become a worldwide phenomenon after the series.

'Wednesday' breaks another Netflix record, becomes first English series to cross 400M hours viewed in a week

Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in 'Stranger Things' (Netflix)

The recent ratings released by Nielsen (via Deadline) has Netflix ruling the viewership charts, securing 11 spots out of the top 15 on the overall streaming program list. Besides, the streaming giant also managed to take 13 out of 15 top spots in the streaming originals. 'Stranger Things' was the No 1 in both categories.

'Netflix' produced some compelling original content last year, which, along with the continuation of some fan-favorite originals, resulted in the breakthrough numbers. 'Stranger Things' is said to have been streamed for 52 billion minutes, which includes all 34 episodes of its four seasons.

Jason Bateman as Martin 'Marty' Byrde in 'Ozark' (IMDb)

Jason Bateman's 'Ozark' took the second spot on the list of streaming originals and came in number 4 in the overall chart. The series scored a total of 31.3 billion viewing minutes.

Jenna Ortega as Wednesday in 'Wednesday' (IMDb)

'Wednesday' grabbed the third spot on streaming originals and came in 12th in the overall ranking. The series has managed to rake in a whopping 18.6 billion viewing minutes.

The top 10 original streaming programs list also includes 'Cobra Kai', 'Bridgerton', 'Virgin River', 'Dahmer', 'Love Is Blind', 'Inventing Anna', and 'The Crown' respectively.

Meanwhile, Disney+'s 'Encanto' took the 5th spot (27.4B minutes). Prime Video's 'The Boys' (Number 11) and 'Rings of Power' (Number 15) rounded up the top 15 of original streaming with 10.6B and 9.4B minutes respectively.

All four seasons of 'Stranger Things' are currently streaming on Netflix.