Netflix and Disney+ titles lead Nielsen’s H1 2026 streaming rankings
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Nielsen's biannual streaming report for the first half of 2026 confirms "Stranger Things," "Bluey" and "The Pitt" as the most-watched titles overall, with Netflix's sci-fi hit remaining dominant even after its series finale and setting a new weekly viewership record in the process. The report matters because it shows a handful of streaming originals now compete directly with long-running linear-first shows for audience attention, while Peacock's unscripted originals also punched above their weight in the rankings.
Stranger Things led with 23.26 billion minutes viewed from January to June, followed by Disney+'s "Bluey" with 22.81 billion and HBO Max's "The Pitt" with 21.12 billion, the latter boosted by a much stronger second season. Grey's Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory and Bridgerton rounded out the top six, while SpongeBob SquarePants, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers and Paw Patrol filled out the top ten; further down, Peacock's The Traitors and Love Island USA led unscripted originals, and The First 48 topped the overall unscripted chart with 11.33 billion minutes.
- Stranger Things topped H1 2026 streaming with 23.26 billion minutes viewed
- Bluey and The Pitt followed closely behind in Nielsen's rankings
- Peacock's unscripted shows also performed strongly among younger viewers
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Streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+ and Prime Video now compete for viewers alongside traditional television, and each closely-guards its own viewing figures. Nielsen, an independent audience-measurement firm long used to track TV ratings, publishes a twice-yearly report that gives a rare outside comparison across all these services using a single, consistent method: total minutes watched.
The report's top performers include newer streaming-only shows like Netflix's "Stranger Things" and HBO Max's medical drama "The Pitt", sitting alongside older, well-established series such as "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Big Bang Theory" that originally aired on conventional networks before finding large audiences on streaming. Unscripted formats, including reality and competition shows on Peacock and Paramount+, are tracked separately, reflecting how differently that genre performs compared with scripted drama and comedy.
These rankings matter to the industry because streaming services use viewership data to decide what to renew, cancel or invest in, and to attract advertisers. Because each platform normally releases only the figures that suit it, Nielsen's independent tally is one of the few tools allowing direct comparison of how services and shows are actually performing against one another.
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Originally published by Deadline as “‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Bluey’ & ‘The Pitt’ Dominate Streaming TV In H1 2026; Peacock Rates High With Unscripted Originals”.