It's probably best to note up front that Netflix will likely pooh-pooh the ratings data just released by ratings tracker SymphonyAM, whose methods the streaming service have previously disavowed. Still, if the latest numbers released by the startup are any indication, the summer phenomenon Stranger Things is one of Netflix's biggest hits to date.
According to SymphonyAM's latest estimates, 8.2 million people watched the Duffer Brothers' ode to '80s movies in its first 16 days on the streaming platform (a measurement known as “Live +16”), a number that would place it well above such popular Netflix Original Series as House of Cards Season 4, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 2, Making a Murderer, and the respective first and second seasons of Marvel series Jessica Jones and Daredevil. In fact, if the figures are indeed accurate, only Fuller House and Orange is the New Black Season 4 garnered higher viewership.
These numbers shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been online this summer, where Stranger Things has dominated the pop-culture conversation since debuting last month. But since Netflix doesn't release ratings data, it was impossible to know for certain whether the series was merely a social media phenomenon or a bona fide ratings smash. SymphonyAM's data suggests it was both, making a second season of the show seemingly inevitable.
You can check out the full SymphonyAM chart over at Business Insider.
[via The Playlist]