Streaming Ratings: ‘Fool Me Once’ Opens Big for Netflix

Rick Porter
·3 min read
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Netflix rang in 2024 with a huge opening week for its series Fool Me Once.

The thriller based on a novel by Harlan Coben scored better than 3 billion minutes of viewing in the week of Jan. 1-7, easily leading Nielsen’s streaming charts for the week (it premiered on New Year’s Day). The series had the biggest single week for any streaming show since August, when Suits (with a much higher episode count) brought in 3.24 billion minutes of viewing.

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Fool Me Once had more than twice the viewing total of the second-place show, Reacher. The Prime Video series continued its strong second season, racking up 1.38 billion minutes of watch time for the week that episode six premiered. Nielsen also revised Reacher’s totals for the previous two weeks after correcting an issue related to audio capture for Prime Video shows: It drew about 1.4 billion minutes each week, pushing its total to just under 6 billion minutes since its season two premiere in mid-December.

Netflix’s The Brothers Sun, which premiered Jan. 4, opened with 696 million minutes of viewing, good for fourth place among original series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (627 million minutes) continued its solid performance on Disney+, and Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix stand-up special, The Dreamer, slotted in at ninth among originals with 376 million minutes of viewing. Hulu’s nearly five-year-old limited series The Act came in 10th place with 317 million minutes of viewing due to Gypsy Rose Blanchard once again being in the news with a Lifetime docuseries.

Young Sheldon led the acquired series chart, as it did for the last month of 2023, with 1.37 billion minutes of watch time on Max and Netflix. TruTV’s Tacoma FD also got a Netflix bump, drawing 622 million minutes of viewing on Max and Netflix after being added to the latter platform. The Equalizer 3 (1.02 billion minutes on Netflix) led the movie chart after making its streaming premiere.

Nielsen’s streaming ratings cover viewing on TV sets only and don’t include minutes watched on computers or mobile devices. The ratings only measure U.S. audiences, not those in other countries. The top streaming titles for Jan. 1-7, 2024, are below.

Overall

1. Fool Me Once (Netflix), 3.04 billion minutes viewed
2. Reacher (Prime Video), 1.38 billion
3. Young Sheldon (Max/Netflix), 1.37 billion
4. Bluey (Disney+), 1.25 billion
5. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix), 1.07 billion
6. The Equalizer 3 (Netflix), 1.02 billion
7. Aquaman (Max/Netflix), 955 million
8. NCIS (Netflix/Paramount+), 928 million
9. Suits (Netflix/Peacock), 766 million
10. The Big Bang Theory (Max), 757 million

Original Series

1. Fool Me Once, 3.04 billion minutes
2. Reacher, 1.38 billion
3. The Crown (Netflix), 718 million
4. The Brothers Sun (Netflix), 696 million
5. You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment (Netflix), 639 million
6. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney+), 627 million
7. My Life With the Walter Boys (Netflix), 495 million
8. Berlin (Netflix), 393 million
9. Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer (Netflix), 376 million
10. The Act (Hulu), 317 million

Acquired Series

1. Young Sheldon, 1.37 billion minutes
2. Bluey, 1.25 billion
3. Grey’s Anatomy, 1.07 billion
4. NCIS, 928 milllion
5. Suits, 766 million
6. The Big Bang Theory, 757 million
7. Gilmore Girls (Netflix), 642 million
8. Tacoma FD (Max/Netflix), 622 million
9. Law & Order: SVU (Hulu/Peaock), 594 million
10. Friends (Max), 592 million

Movies

1. The Equalizer 3, 1.02 billion minutes
2. Aquaman, 955 million
3. Those Who Wish Me Dead (Max/Netflix), 685 million
4. Society of the Snow (Netflix), 595 million
5. John Wick (Netflix), 571 million
6. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Netflix), 529 million
7. John Wick: Chapter 2 (Netflix), 474 million
8. Meg 2: The Trench (Max/Netflix), 462 million
9. The Croods (Netflix), 424 million
10. Elvis (Max/Netflix), 413 million

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