Coastal Carolina-set youth drama Outer Banks was once again the top series in subscription streaming last week, garnering 99 million viewing hours on Netflix’s global platform from February 27-March 5. 

Outer Banks catch-up viewing was also strong, with seasons one and two ranking No. 3 and No. 6, respectively with 34.1 million and 27.8 million streaming hours. 

Also on Netflix’s English-language series top-10 list, season two of Sex/Life debuted to nearly 44 million streaming hours to place second among all Netflix shows for the week. 

Meanwhile, the second week for Netflix original comedy movie We Have a Ghost placed third on the platform with 42.6 million streaming hours. That represented narrow growth over the film’s premiere week. ■

In case you don't have adults under the age of 20 living in your home to help you notice this, actor Chase Stokes and the rest of the youthful Coastal Carolinian have and have-nots on Netflix's Outer Banks are having a moment. 

The youth drama series' third season debuted to a first-three-day audience of 155 million viewing hours, a 55% uptick over the season 2 launch in late-July 2021. 

Outer Banks was far and away the most watched show on Netflix last week (Feb. 20-26). And its week was the third biggest on Netflix following the season 2 bow of Ginny & Georgia, which produced 180.5 million and 162.7 million viewing hours, respectively, in its first and second weeks back in early January. 

It was otherwise a pretty so-so week for Netflix, audience-wise. 

Among original TV series, the platform's latest murder-based docuseries, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, debuted to a solid but unspectacular 40 million viewing hours, while season 5 of Formula 1: Drive to Survive bowed to just 25.8 million viewing hours, off slightly from the 28 million viewing hours yielded by season 4's launch in March of last year. 

Meanwhile, among Netflix films, original comedy We Have a Ghost scared up a very pedestrian 40.5 million viewing hours. 

The new season of sandy teen drama Outer Banks is on Netflix February 23. It is season three. The show, created by Josh Pate, Jonas Pate and Shannon Burke, is about the rich kids and not-so-well-off kids, their gangs known as the Kooks and the Pogues, battling on an island off North Carolina, and a crew of have-nots searching for a lost treasure. 

In season three, the Pogues have departed the Outer Banks and find themselves washed ashore on a desert island they call “Poguelandia.” They enjoy fishing, swimming and hanging out, but things go south pretty quickly for John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope, JJ and Cleo when they find themselves once again caught up in a race for the treasure. 

“They’re broke and far from home, they can’t trust anyone, Ward and Rafe are hungry for revenge, and there’s a ruthless Caribbean Don who will stop at nothing to find the bounty,” according to Netflix. “Was the treasure ever within their reach? Or was it all a trap to stop them once and for all? Either way, it’s the Pogues against the world — and the only way out is together.”

Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Rudy Pankow and Jonathan Daviss are in the cast.

Season two came out in summer 2021. ■

Netflix has renewed Outer Banks for season three. The beachy teen drama is set on the islands off the coast of North Carolina. Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke created the show and are showrunners. 

In Outer Banks, a group of local teens known as the Pogues does battle with wealthy summer residents known as Kooks and searches for clues regarding John B’s missing father. 

Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Rudy Pankow and Jonathan Daviss are in the cast. 

Season two began in July. The season summary went, “The last time we visited the sunny shores of the Outer Banks, the Pogues had succeeded in finding the treasure of the Royal Merchant, but their excitement was short lived. Not only was John B (Stokes) quickly framed for murder by his girlfriend’s dad (Charles Esten), but then he and Sarah (Cline) appeared to drown at sea during a tropical storm," according to Netflix. 

The show has been a hit on Netflix.  ■

For the third consecutive week the Netflix original series Outer Banks was the most watched show on the major U.S. subscription streaming services, attracting 736 million viewing minutes during the week of Aug. 16 - 22, according to Nielsen.

That’s down 424 million week over week. But in spite of the drop, the North Carolina beach town-set coming-of-age drama, which premiered its second 10-episode season on July 30, maintained its top seating, it seems, because video streaming in mid-August was in a slump.

Notably, in the No. 2 spot was Cocomelon, the Netflix acquired kids series that perennially occupies the bottom half of Nielsen’s acquired series rankings. On this lullaby-sleepy mid-August frame, the computer-animated children’s program featuring Baby J.J. and his siblings singing and telling stories—qualified as a “hit.”

In fact, during the week of August 16, Cocomelon’s 12 episodes collected 732 million minutes of viewing. According to Nielsen, Cocomelon’s strength lies in primarily preschool age viewers, ages 2-5, “which is one reason for its continued strength this week despite the softening usage among 6-17 year old streamers.” 

In other words, families may have been at the beach, but parents were still relying on Netflix to look after their toddlers.

Meanwhile, the first four Season 7 episodes of Netflix original series Grace and Frankie, which premiered on the streaming service on August 13, generated 716 million viewing minutes for the week, which was good enough for third place overall. 

Oscar winner Jane Fonda and Emmy winner Lily Tomlin star as Grace and Frankie, a comedy about two women whose lives are turned upside down after their husbands reveal they are gay. Season 7 of the comedy will feature 16-episodes. The next 12 episodes won’t be released until 2022 because COVID halted production. The Skydance TV series’ is Netflix’s longest running original series.

After just two days on Netflix, the third season of Manifest drew 705 million viewing minutes, putting the show in the No. 4 spot. 

In late August, following sensational streaming ratings for seven straight weeks on Netflix and a #SaveManifest movement kickstarted by the series’ creator, Jeff Rake, the streaming service ordered a fourth a final season of the NBC supernatural drama. As part of the negotiations with Warner Bros. to make season four, Netflix licensed streaming rights to the third season of the show, which debuted on August 21.

Manifest is the most streamed show in the U.S. so far this year. Season 4 will feature 20 episodes, the biggest total yet for the series,

Taking the No. 6 spot was the Netflix film Sweet Girl. The  revenge thriller starring Marisa Tomei and Jason Momoa garnered 658 million viewing minutes. According to Nielsen, 42% of the viewing minutes came from African-American or Hispanic homes. The film, released on August 20, features Momoa as a devastated husband who vows to find the people responsible for the murder of his wife.

Dropping seven spots to No. 10 was Vivo, an animated musical starring and featuring new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda that debuted on Netflix on August 6. The movie drew 475 million viewing minutes, down 327 million week over week.

The film was initially scheduled to be released in theaters on June 4 by Sony Pictures Animation. But in April, the studio licensed Vivo to Netflix. Sony Pictures retained home entertainment and linear television rights as well as all rights in China. The Vivo deal was made outside the broader Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment licensing deal that was announced in April, which allows the streaming service an exclusive window for the studio’s theatrical titles beginning in 2022. 

Previous Weekly Rankings:

August 9-15: Netflix’s Scrappy ‘Outer Banks’ Maintains the No. 1 Spot

August 2-8: Netflix's ‘Outer Banks’ Surpasses 2.1 Billion Viewing Minutes

July 26 - August 1: Netflix's 'All American' Edges 'Outer Banks' for No. 1

July 19-25: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Maintains the No. 1 Spot

July 12-18: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Ends Five-Week ‘Manifest’ Winning Streak

July 5-11: #SaveManifest Movement Picks Up Steam as Netflix Series Becomes the Most Watched SVOD Show for 5th Straight Week

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June 28-July 4: Amazon’s $200 Million Bet on Paramount’s ‘The Tomorrow War’ Pays Off

June 21-27: ‘Manifest’ Continues Series Saving Flight Plan on Netflix

June 14-20: Netflix’s ‘Manifest’ Scores the Year’s Biggest SVOD Audience So Far

June 7-13: Netflix’s ‘Sweet Tooth’ Shows Bite for the Week of June 7-13

May 31-June 6: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Bedevils SVOD’s Biggest Audience Since Season 3 of 'Cobra Kai’ Debuted in January

May 24-30: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Has SVOD’s Biggest Week* Since ‘Coming 2 America’ Debuted in Early-March

May  17-23: Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ on Netflix Leads a Rather Lifeless Week for the U.S. Streaming Biz

May 10-16: ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ Not Good Enough For Netflix to Renew, But Strong Enough to Lead the Week of May 10-16

May 3-9: Netflix’s $100 Million Bet on Sony’s ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’ Pays Off

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April 26 - May 2: Netflix’s ‘Shadow and Bone’ Edges Hulu’s ‘Handmade’s Tale' in Rebound Week for the Streaming Biz

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April 19-25: Netflix’s ‘NCIS’ Off-net Run Wins Another ‘Easttown and Down' Week for the U.S. SVOD Biz

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April 12-18: Disney Plus’ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Builds to 855 Million Streaming Minutes and a No. 1 Finish

April 5-11: Give Netflix's 'Thunder Force' Five for Winning the Week of April 5-11

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March 29 - April 4: Netflix’s ‘The Irregulars’ Tops the Easter Week Charts

March 22-28: - 'Falcon and Winter Soldier' Tops SVOD Originals

March 15-21: - 'Grey's Anatomy' Re-Runs Top SVOD Ranker

March 8-14: - ‘The Crown’ Got Royal Gains from Meghan’s Big Oprah Interview

March 1-7: - Amazon Tops the Charts for the First Time with ‘Coming 2 America’

Feb 22-28: - Netflix’s 'Ginny & Georgia' Leads the SVOD Biz

Netflix original series Outer Banks was the most watched show on the major U.S. subscription streaming services for the week of Aug. 2-8, attracting a whopping 2.1 billion viewing minutes during, according to Nielsen.

The North Carolina beach town-set coming-of-age drama, which premiered its second 10-episode season on July 30, was up 677 million viewing minutes week over week.

While Outer Banks, a show about a group of working-class local teenagers, is still awaiting a Season 3 renewal from Netflix, the large increase in viewership should make green-lighting another season an easy decision for the streaming service.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s off-network streaming of another young-adult-focused drama, the CW’s All American, dropped to the No. 2 spot during the week ending August 8, drawing 1.157 billion viewing minutes. That’s a 276 million decline for the show, which stars Daniel Ezra as Spencer James, a star football player for fictional inner-city high school South Crenshaw High who gets  recruited to play for Beverly Hills High. The third season of All American premiered on Netflix on July 27, eight days after the season finale aired on The CW.

Taking the No. 3 spot was another Netflix off-net show, the AMC’s The Walking Dead, which had 720 million viewing minutes. Season 10 of the 151-episode post-apocalyptic television series premiered on Netflix on July 26. Week over week The Walking Dead experienced a 166 million boost in views per minute. According to Nielsen, more than half of the audience watching the show on Netflix was under the age of 35, which the company says, “suggests a new audience from the one that watched (the series) on linear when (The Walking Dead) launched in 2010.”

After dominating Nielsen’s SVOD charts in July, Netflix original series Virgin River, for the first time in four weeks, didn’t take one of the top three spots on the list. Instead, the show about a midwife and nurse (Alexandra Breckenridge) who relocates from Los Angeles to a Northern California town—where, you know, drama ensues—dropped to the No. 7 garnering 547 million viewing minutes for the week ending August 8.

Netflix renewed Virgin River for a 10-episode third season in December 2020. 

Also dropping in the rankings was Netflix’s offset run of Manifest, which tallied 501 million viewing minutes during the week ending August 8. Notably, this performance came almost two months after Netflix debuted the first two seasons of the sci-fi drama, which was cancelled by NBC in the early summer. 

Following sensational streaming ratings for seven straight weeks on Netflix, not to mention a #SaveManifest movement kickstarted by the series’ creator, Jeff Rake, Netflix ordered a fourth and final season of Manifest last week. 

The most streamed show in the U.S. so far this year, Manifest season four will consist of 20 episodes – the most episodes of any of the show’s previous seasons. As part of the negotiations with Warner Bros. to make season four, Netflix licensed streaming rights to the third season of the show, which debuted on August 21.

Expect Manifest to resurface at the top of Nielsen’s rankings when the research company publishes performance ratings in two weeks for the week of August 22-28. 

Previous Weekly Rankings:

July 26 - August 1: Netflix's 'All American' Edges 'Outer Banks' for No. 1

July 19-25: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Maintains the No. 1 Spot

July 12-18: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Ends Five-Week ‘Manifest’ Winning Streak

July 5-11: #SaveManifest Movement Picks Up Steam as Netflix Series Becomes the Most Watched SVOD Show for 5th Straight Week

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June 28-July 4: Amazon’s $200 Million Bet on Paramount’s ‘The Tomorrow War’ Pays Off

June 21-27: ‘Manifest’ Continues Series Saving Flight Plan on Netflix

June 14-20: Netflix’s ‘Manifest’ Scores the Year’s Biggest SVOD Audience So Far

June 7-13: Netflix’s ‘Sweet Tooth’ Shows Bite for the Week of June 7-13

May 31-June 6: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Bedevils SVOD’s Biggest Audience Since Season 3 of 'Cobra Kai’ Debuted in January

May 24-30: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Has SVOD’s Biggest Week* Since ‘Coming 2 America’ Debuted in Early-March

May  17-23: Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ on Netflix Leads a Rather Lifeless Week for the U.S. Streaming Biz

May 10-16: ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ Not Good Enough For Netflix to Renew, But Strong Enough to Lead the Week of May 10-16

May 3-9: Netflix’s $100 Million Bet on Sony’s ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’ Pays Off

April 26 - May 2: Netflix’s ‘Shadow and Bone’ Edges Hulu’s ‘Handmade’s Tale' in Rebound Week for the Streaming Biz

April 19-25: Netflix’s ‘NCIS’ Off-net Run Wins Another ‘Easttown and Down' Week for the U.S. SVOD Biz

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April 12-18: Disney Plus’ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Builds to 855 Million Streaming Minutes and a No. 1 Finish

April 5-11: Give Netflix's 'Thunder Force' Five for Winning the Week of April 5-11

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March 29 - April 4: Netflix’s ‘The Irregulars’ Tops the Easter Week Charts

March 22-28: - 'Falcon and Winter Soldier' Tops SVOD Originals

March 15-21: - 'Grey's Anatomy' Re-Runs Top SVOD Ranker

March 8-14: - ‘The Crown’ Got Royal Gains from Meghan’s Big Oprah Interview

March 1-7: - Amazon Tops the Charts for the First Time with ‘Coming 2 America’

Feb 22-28: - Netflix’s 'Ginny & Georgia' Leads the SVOD Biz

The season 3 debut of The CW's All American on Netflix was the most watched program on the major U.S. SVOD services for the week of July 26 - Aug. 1, attracting 1.433 billion viewing minutes during, according to Nielsen.

The offnet drama starring Daniel Ezra as Spencer James, a South Crenshaw High School football player recruited to play for Beverly Hills High, first aired on The CW in October 2018. And its Netflix performance has kept it alive. CW President Mark Pedowitz credited the modest linear broadcast ratings boost All American received from Netflix offnet binging for the network’s decision to greenlight season 3.

All American is from Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios in association with Berlanti Productions, with executive producers Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and John A. Norris.

Debuting July 30, meanwhile, the second season of Netflix original series Outer Banks garnered 1.423 billion viewing minutes for the week ending August 1, placing the show in the No. 2 spot on Nielsen’s SVOD chart. 

A North Carolina beach town-set coming-of-age drama focused on the “Pogues”—a group of working-class local teenagers— Outer Banks is still awaiting Season 3 renewal from Netflix.

According to Nielsen, both All American and Outer Banks were “virtually identical from an age standpoint” with over half of their audiences under 35 years old.  

Meanwhile, after two consecutive weeks in the No. 1 spot on Nielsen’s SVOD chart, Netflix’s Virgin River fell to No. 3, attracting 782 million viewing minutes during the week of July 26. That’s down by 488 million viewing minutes week over week. 

Coming in at No. 6 was Netflix’s offset run of Manifes first and second seasons, which tallied 640 million viewing minutes. While the supernatural drama dropped four spots on Nielsen’s chart week over week, it’s torrid first seven weeks on the streaming platform fueled an ultimately successful #SaveManifest movement. It has been reported that Netflix is "in the home stretch" of negotiations with Warner Bros. Television to produce a fourth season of mystery drama, which was cancelled after three seasons by NBC in June.

As part of those negotiations with Warner Bros., Netflix licensed streaming rights to the third season of Manifest, which just dropped on the streaming service on August 25, and is already ranking as the No. 1 show in America, according to the SVOD service's ranking widget. 

Another CW show licensed by Netflix, The Flash, came in at No. 9, garnering 519 million viewing minutes. The seventh season of the show began streaming on Netflix on July 28.

Earlier this year, the long-running DC superhero drama was renewed for an eighth season, which will premiere November 16, on The CW. The Flash, which is produced by Bonanza Productions, Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television, premiered its seventh season on CW on March 2.

Previous Weekly Rankings:

July 19-25: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Maintains the No. 1 Spot

July 12-18: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Ends Five-Week ‘Manifest’ Winning Streak

July 5-11: #SaveManifest Movement Picks Up Steam as Netflix Series Becomes the Most Watched SVOD Show for 5th Straight Week

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June 28-July 4: Amazon’s $200 Million Bet on Paramount’s ‘The Tomorrow War’ Pays Off

June 21-27: ‘Manifest’ Continues Series Saving Flight Plan on Netflix

June 14-20: Netflix’s ‘Manifest’ Scores the Year’s Biggest SVOD Audience So Far

June 7-13: Netflix’s ‘Sweet Tooth’ Shows Bite for the Week of June 7-13

May 31-June 6: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Bedevils SVOD’s Biggest Audience Since Season 3 of 'Cobra Kai’ Debuted in January

May 24-30: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Has SVOD’s Biggest Week* Since ‘Coming 2 America’ Debuted in Early-March

May  17-23: Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ on Netflix Leads a Rather Lifeless Week for the U.S. Streaming Biz

May 10-16: ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ Not Good Enough For Netflix to Renew, But Strong Enough to Lead the Week of May 10-16

May 3-9: Netflix’s $100 Million Bet on Sony’s ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’ Pays Off

April 26 - May 2: Netflix’s ‘Shadow and Bone’ Edges Hulu’s ‘Handmade’s Tale' in Rebound Week for the Streaming Biz

April 19-25: Netflix’s ‘NCIS’ Off-net Run Wins Another ‘Easttown and Down' Week for the U.S. SVOD Biz

April 12-18: Disney Plus’ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Builds to 855 Million Streaming Minutes and a No. 1 Finish

April 5-11: Give Netflix's 'Thunder Force' Five for Winning the Week of April 5-11

Advertisement

March 29 - April 4: Netflix’s ‘The Irregulars’ Tops the Easter Week Charts

March 22-28: - 'Falcon and Winter Soldier' Tops SVOD Originals

March 15-21: - 'Grey's Anatomy' Re-Runs Top SVOD Ranker

March 8-14: - ‘The Crown’ Got Royal Gains from Meghan’s Big Oprah Interview

March 1-7: - Amazon Tops the Charts for the First Time with ‘Coming 2 America’

Feb 22-28: - Netflix’s 'Ginny & Georgia' Leads the SVOD Biz

Season two of teen drama Outer Banks arrives on Netflix July 30. Chase Stokes, Madison Bailey and Madelyn Cline are in the cast. 

Outer Banks is set on the North Carolina coast, where the wealthy summer people, known as the Kooks, clash with the locals, known as the Pogues. A group of Pogues is determined to discover what happened to the father of their leader, John B. 

"The last time we visited the sunny shores of the Outer Banks, the Pogues had succeeded in finding the treasure of the Royal Merchant, but their excitement was short lived. Not only was John B (Stokes) quickly framed for murder by his girlfriend’s dad (Charles Esten), but then he and Sarah (Cline) appeared to drown at sea during a tropical storm," according to Netflix. 

The Pogues and the Kooks remain at odds in the new season. 

Josh Pate, Jonas Pate and Shannon Burke created the show. Season one debuted in April 2020.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of April 13 to April 19 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 13 -- Agua Donkeys (comedy) -- Quibi

April 15 --Mrs. America (drama) -- Fx on Hulu (Pictured)

April 15 -- Outer Banks (drama) -- Netflix

April 15 -- What We Do In the Shadows (returning series) -- Fx

April 17 -- #blackAF (comedy) -- Netflix

April 17 -- Bosch (returning series) -- Prime Video

April 17 -- Selah and the Spades (drama) -- Prime Video

April 17 -- Sergio (drama) -- Netflix

April 19 -- The Last Dance (sports documentary) -- ESPN

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of April 13 to April 19 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 13 -- Agua Donkeys (comedy) -- Quibi

April 15 --Mrs. America (drama) -- Fx on Hulu

April 15 -- Outer Banks (drama) -- Netflix

April 15 -- What We Do In the Shadows (returning series) -- Fx

April 17 -- #blackAF (comedy) -- Netflix

April 17 -- Bosch (returning series) -- Prime Video

April 17 -- Selah and the Spades (drama) -- Prime Video

April 17 -- Sergio (drama) -- Netflix

April 18 -- The Last Dance (sports documentary) -- ESPN