Kim Kardashian may have broken the internet back in the day, but Stranger Things broke Netflix.
For weeks, fans of the sci-fi series analyzed every scene and let their theories run wild as they waited for the second half of Season 4. So, it was only natural that the release of the final two episodes would create a stir that resonated all the way to the Upside Down.
The streaming service crashed on July 1 as millions of users tuned in to see whether Eleven and her friends would defeat Vecna. The overwhelming traffic left the site inaccessible, with more than 13,000 issues reported.
Although Volume II may be the shiny new kid on the block, the first part of season four has landed Stranger Things amongst the Nielsen ratings.
The audience measurement system has been tracking the most-watched television shows in the United States since the 1950s. Nielsen began including a weekly Top 10 list for streaming networks in 2020, with no streaming show having ever accumulated 6 billion minutes of viewing time in a single week.
Until now.
According to the latest data, Stranger Things saw a total of 7.2 billion minutes of viewing time between May 30 and June 5, setting a new record. Volume I also holds the record for the streaming series with the most hours watched in a weekend premiere with 286.79 million.
Take that, Vecna.
