Nielsen Streaming Ratings: Not for Nothin', But a Show That Left Broadcast TV 23 Years Ago Just Cracked the Top 10

(Image credit: Sony Pictures TV)

The debut of the latest off-net cycle of Seinfeld, the season 2 finale of Apple awards darling Ted Lasso, the entry of Marvel superhero film Black Widow into the Disney Plus free-with-subscription window, and the posting of Dave Chappelle's latest — and most controversial — Netflix standup special, The Closer, all captured major viewing time for the week of Oct. 4-10.

But once again, Netflix’s local-language series sensation Squid Game dominated the U.S. subscription streaming business, garnering 3.021 billion viewing minutes in the U.S. for the week ending Oct. 10, according to Nielsen. It was the second consecutive week that Netflix's Korean-language original series drove more than 3 billion minutes of domestic viewing.

Nielsen Streaming Ratings Oct. 4-10 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

Since Nielsen started keeping tabs, the only other subscription streaming programs to reach or surpass 3 billion streaming minutes are Netflix series Ozark, The Umbrella Academy, You, The Crown and Tiger King. All of those benchmarks occurred during the 2020 COVID quarantine period.

Taking the No. 2 spot was Netflix’s 10-episode series Maid with 1.904 billion viewing minutes. The series, which debuted on Netflix on Oct. 1, stars Margaret Qualley and is based on Stephanie Land’s Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. Maid chronicles a single mother who turns to housekeeping to make ends meet.

Netflix’s On My Block, which debuted its fourth and final season on the streaming service on Oct. 4, took the No. 3 spot, generating 776 million viewing minutes during the week of Oct. 10. The teen-oriented series follows four friends navigating their way through a high school set in the fictional Los Angeles inner city area of Freeridge.

In September, Netflix ordered a spinoff of On My Block titled Freeridge. From On My Block co-creators Lauren Iungerich, Eddie Gonzalez, and Jeremy Haft, Freeridge follows a new group of friends who may or may not have unleashed a deadly curse, kicking off a new adventure.

Meanwhile, Mike Flanagan’s seven-episode Netflix supernatural horror mini-series Midnight Mass, which debuted Sept. 24, dropped two spots week over week to No. 4 with 707 million viewing minutes during the week ending Oct. 10.

Nielsen Streaming Ratings - Original Series Oct. 4-10 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

Disney and Marvel’s superhero film Black Widow took the No. 5 spot with 676 million viewing minutes. Disney Plus debuted the film, staring Scarlett Johansson as the titular heroine, on July 9 as a $30 “Premier Access” premium title, and Black Widow garnered 541 million viewing minutes from July 9-11, despite that hefty price tag. Black Widow became available to all Disney Plus subscribers, sans the $30 viewing fee, on Oct. 6.

Coming in at No. 7 was Seinfeld, which debuted on Netflix on Oct. 1. The 1990s sitcom garnered 590 million viewing minutes from Oct. 4-10. Notably, according to Nielsen, about 25% of Netflix users streaming Seinfeld were born after the so-called “Show About Nothing” ended its groundbreaking nine-season “Must See” NBC run in May 1998.

Seinfeld was only the second most watched off-network show in subscription streaming for the week, with Netflix’s enduring kids series Cocomelon once again leading Nielsen’s sub ranking of “acquired series."

Nielsen Streaming Ratings - Acquired Series Oct. 4-10 — (Image credit: Nielsen)

Taking the No. 9 spot was Apple TV Plus signature series, Ted Lasso, with 507 million viewing minutes for the week ending Oct. 10. Ted Lasso, which won seven Emmys in September, including Outstanding Comedy Series, dropped its second-season finale on Apple TV Plus on Oct. 8. Nielsen only recently started including Apple TV Plus shows alongside Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus.

Finally, comedian Dave Chappelle’s controversial standup special The Closer, which debuted Oct. 5, cracked No. 7 on Nielsen’s sub ranking of subscription streaming original shows, racking up 399 million viewing minutes.