Nielsen Streaming Ratings: Netflix's ‘Outer Banks’ Surpasses 2.1 Billion Viewing Minutes

(Image credit: Netflix)

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.

Nielsen Weekly Rankings August 2-8 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

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.”

Nielsen Streaming Rankings - Acquired Series August 2-8 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

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.

Nielsen Weekly Rankings - Original Series August 2-8 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

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.