Bluey beats Stranger Things and keeps spot as most streamed show in 2025

Australian children’s series Bluey has once again topped the US streaming charts for the second year running, holding on to its spot as the most watched show of 2025 and beating Netflix’s Stranger Things.

The animated show logged 45.2 billion minutes of viewing across the US on Disney+ over the year, according to year-end viewing data released by Nielsen on Thursday, making it the most-watched title of any genre for the second year running.

Bluey achieved this total with a catalogue of just 154 episodes, most of which are under 10 minutes long.

The beloved Australian children’s programme about a family of heeler dogs became a worldwide phenomenon after the release of its first season in 2018, often winning praise for it’s refreshing and emotional storytelling, which has been known to reduce parents to tears. The show follows a young dog called Bluey Heeler who lives with her mother Chilli, father Bandit, and little sister Bingo as they play games and explore a world of fun across seven-minute episodes.

The series wrapped its third season in April 2024, with a special 28-minute episode. A feature-length film has been announced, to be released in theatres in 2027. The movie will be written and directed by Bluey creator Joe Brumm and produced by Ludo Studio, which makes the show, in collaboration with BBC Studios, and will feature voice talent from the series, including Melanie Zanetti as Chilli and David McCormack as Bandit.

Netflix’s science-fiction drama Stranger Things, which released its fifth and final season in 2025, emerged as the most watched original series of the year with just under 40 billion minutes streamed, but remained behind Bluey in the overall rankings.

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ABC’s long-running medical drama Grey’s Anatomy took second place with 40.92 billion minutes of viewing on Netflix and Hulu, and Stranger Things came in third overall.

The figures are based on Nielsen’s Streaming Content Ratings, which measure total minutes viewed on major US platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video, Paramount+, and Peacock.

However, Nielsen’s 2025 report ended on 28 December, which means Stranger Things’ numbers don’t include its series finale, which was released on New Year’s Eve.

Nine of the top 10 list was made up largely by long-running network series with large back catalogues and animated shows rather than streaming originals. NCIS ranked fourth with 36.9 billion minutes watched, followed by SpongeBob SquarePants in fifth place with 34.3 billion minutes, and Bob’s Burgers in sixth with 34.1 billion minutes.

Family Guy placed seventh with 33.4 billion minutes, The Big Bang Theory eighth with 32.4 billion minutes, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit placed ninth with 26.8 billion minutes, while Criminal Minds coming in at number 10 with 24.1 billion minutes viewed during the year.

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According to Nielsen, total streaming consumption in the US reached 16.7 trillion minutes in 2025, which is a 19 per cent increase from the previous year and the highest annual total on record.

Separate rankings for film streaming showed that Netflix’s animated feature KPop Demon Hunters was the most streamed movie of 2025 with 20.6 billion minutes watched, ahead of Disney+’s Moana 2 with 9.4 billion minutes, while Happy Gilmore 2 was the most streamed general-audience film with 7.1 billion minutes.

HBO Max’s The Pitt emerged as the biggest new streaming series of 2025, with 11.4 billion minutes viewed, placing it just outside the overall top 10. Netflix’s The Residence, which has now been cancelled by the streamer, ranked second among new original shows with 9.5 billion minutes, while Running Point and The Four Seasons were the highest-ranking new comedies of the year, with 5.1 billion and 5.0 billion minutes respectively.