Nielsen Streaming Ratings: Netflix’s ’Outer Banks’ Loses 37% of Its Audience, Still Finishes No. 1

(Image credit: 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.

Nielsen Streaming Ratings August 16-22 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

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.

Nielsen Streaming Ratings - Acquired Series August 16-22 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

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,

Nielsen Streaming Ratings - Original Series August 16-22 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

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.