The entertainment industry is grappling with a significant data divide. While tech giants like Netflix and Amazon sit on mountains of viewer information, traditional Hollywood players often operate in the dark, unsure of a show's true value. This asymmetry is reshaping the streaming landscape, as revealed by an analysis of several years of Nielsen viewing data, offering a clear picture of what's working and what's not.
The Kings of Content: Ozark and Netflix's Dominance
Surprisingly, the most popular original streaming series of the last six years is not the cultural phenomenon Stranger Things, but the gritty crime drama Ozark, starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. The data, which tracks shows appearing in Nielsen's US top 10 charts, places Ozark at the pinnacle. A key reason for Stranger Things' lower ranking is its release schedule; only two seasons have aired since 2020, when Nielsen began publishing this streaming data, and its latest season arrived too late for inclusion.
Netflix's strength is undeniable. The streaming giant accounts for all 10 of the top original series over this period and about two-thirds of all hit shows that appear in Nielsen's top 10 lists. Its platform has a unique power to resurrect older shows, turning modest reruns like The Office and Parks and Recreation into massive streaming hits, which then faded when they moved to other services like Peacock.
The Rise of Free Streaming: YouTube, Tubi Challenge Paid Giants
While Netflix leads in hit shows, the most-watched streaming service on TVs overall is YouTube. Owned by Alphabet Inc., YouTube surpassed Netflix a couple of years ago and is now larger than Netflix and Amazon combined. Its success in building a TV audience is so pronounced that Instagram is following its strategy.
YouTube's growth is part of a larger trend: the explosive rise of free, advertising-supported streaming. Services like The Roku Channel and Tubi are expanding rapidly. Just a few years ago, Tubi and Roku were about the same size as the paid services from Comcast and Warner Bros. Today, they are almost twice as large.
This shift makes economic sense. As streaming reached mass adoption beyond early adopters in wealthy cities, it attracted more price-sensitive viewers. Meanwhile, the cost of paid services has soared. Subscribing to ad-supported versions of all major platforms could cost nearly $100 per month, driving viewers to free alternatives, which now account for over 40% of all streaming time.
Stagnation and Surprises: Disney's Struggle and 2025's Top Hits
One of the most significant stories is the stagnation of Disney. Despite a blockbuster launch, Disney's streaming viewership hasn't grown in three years. Audiences now spend about half as much time on Disney's services as on Netflix, with Amazon close behind. Disney's strength remains in movies, where it dominates the most-watched list, led by the animated hit Moana.
The most-watched program of early 2025 was the Australian kids' show Bluey, which dominated the charts, followed by the perennial favourite Grey's Anatomy. In original series, the final season of Netflix's Squid Game was the top show of the year, delivering a massive audience and standing out as the only non-English language title near the top. Notably, a concerning trend for Hollywood is the lack of new hits; none of the top 10 original shows of 2025 were new series.
In movies, Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters was the most-watched film of the year, more popular than the next three biggest movies combined, making it the biggest original movie in streaming history.
This data paints a complex picture of the streaming wars: Netflix's content engine remains powerful but is facing increased competition, free services are capturing the value-conscious audience, and traditional giants like Disney must find a new growth formula to keep pace.
