Netflix’s action-packed Western The Harder They Fall generated nearly 1.2 billion minutes of viewing in the U.S. from Nov. 1-7, making it subscription streaming's most watched show in the U.S. that week, according to Nielsen figures.
Directed by Jeymes Samuel and staring Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors and Regina King, The Harder They Fall follows unsung historical figures in rival gangs as the travel the American frontier. Produced by Jay-Z, the fantasy-Western film began streaming on Netflix on Nov. 3 and was the only program to surpass the 1 billion viewing mark during the week of Nov. 1.
It’s been over five months since a one-off film topped the Nielsen SVOD charts. The last movie to do so was Netflix’s Army of the Dead during the week of May 17.
Based on Netflix’s own weekly viewer data, which is based on hours streamed vs. Nielsen’s minutes, and tracks global viewing as opposed to Nielsen’s U.S. focus, The Harder They Fall amassed over 64 billion hours of viewing worldwide during the week on Nov. 1.
According to Nielsen, The Harder They Fall was the most multicultural title to ever take the first slot on the company's SVOD rankings, with 50% of its households being African American.
The Harder They Fall seems to have also indexed a little better domestically than internationally.
Another Netflix film, Army of Thieves, generated only 456 million viewing minutes in the U.S. for the week of Nov. 1 and missed Nielsen main top 10 chart. But Army of Thieves was the No. 1 film on Netflix’s global ranking of English-language films for Nov. 1-7, attracting over 71.6 million hours of viewing worldwide. The Harder They Fall ranked second on that list.
After two consecutive week at the No. 1 spot in Nielsen’s U.S. SVOD rankings, the Netflix original series You dropped to No. 2, with its 30 episodes across three seasons garnering 994 million viewing minutes domestically. It marks the first time in two weeks that voyeuristic-themed You — starring Penn Badgley as the lead creep – dropped below the 1 billion viewing-minute mark.
Netflix, as is usual with a streaming service that’s far bigger domestically than its rivals at around 74 million U.S. users, took all 10 spaces in Nielsen’s main top 10 ranker.
Canadian-produced fantasy drama Locke & Key and the enduring Korean-language mega-hit Squid Game made Nielsen’s top 10 chart again during the week ending Nov. 7, but both programs lost their 1 billion-plus status
Apple TV Plus, which was recently added to Nielsen’s rankings, had two shows make the lists. Ted Lasso, which wrapped its second season on Oct. 8, still captured 310 million viewing minutes for the week of Nov. 1-7, up 35 million viewing minutes week over week to rank 10th on Nielsen’s sub-ranking of SVOD original series.
Another Apple TV Plus title – Finch starring Tom Hanks — made Nielsen’s movies chart, coming in at No. 9 with 132 million viewing minutes.
Among acquired series, Moonbug Entertainment’s YouTube sensation Cocomelon continued its domination of the kids audience on Netflix. But Seinfeld, which was recently poached by Netflix from Hulu, continues to grow, amassing 672 million viewing minutes, up over 14% from the previous week.
With Nielsen delaying release of its subscription streaming ratings for Oct. 25-31 until Monday because of the Thanksgiving holiday, it was the second time this week that the company reported SVOD ratings.
Previous Weekly Rankings:
Oct. 25-31: Netflix's 'You' Becomes a U.S. (and Global) Audience Hit
Oct. 18-24: Netflix’s Season 3 Debut of ‘You' Finally Dethrones ‘Squid Game’
Oct. 4-10: Not for Nothin', But a Show That Left Broadcast TV 23 Years Ago Just Cracked the Top 10
Sept. 27 - Oct. 3: Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Is the First Show to Garner 3 Billion or More Viewing Minutes in the Post-Pandemic Era
Sept. 12-19: Netflix Phenom ‘Squid Game’ Got Off to a Surprisingly Slow Start
Sept. 6-11: Netflix’s ‘Clickbait’ Holds Off Surging ‘Lucifer’
August 30 - Sept. 5: Netflix’s 'Clickbait' Steals Audience Traffic From 'Manifest'
August 23-29: Netflix’s 'Manifest' Soars Back to No. 1 with the Debut of Season 3
August 16-22: Netflix’s ’Outer Banks’ Loses 37% of Its Audience, Still Finishes No. 1
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
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 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
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
