Reacher stays on top as Nielsen speeds up streaming ratings
Prime Video's Reacher is still the most-watched streaming series in the United States, with 1.25 billion minutes viewed for the week of 31 August to 6 September.
The result arrived with a faster clock. Nielsen, the audience measurement company, has cut the lag on its public weekly streaming ratings from 28 days to 11 days, a reduction of more than 60 percent, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It previously published its Thursday charts on viewing from four weeks earlier.
The new timeline means the chart for 31 August to 6 September was published on 17 September. That is 11 days after the end of the viewing window.
Reacher led the overall rankings for that week. It was the show's fourth straight week above 1 billion minutes viewed. The run followed its return to No. 1 with the premiere of its fourth season.
Behind it, two library and acquired titles stayed close. The Big Bang Theory drew 1.07 billion viewing minutes. Tyler Perry's Netflix drama Beauty in Black drew 1.06 billion minutes.
HBO's Lanterns entered the charts for the first time with 500 million minutes viewed. A first appearance means a series has ranked in Nielsen's weekly Top 10 for the first time.
Nielsen also cleared its backlog on the same Thursday. It released charts for 17-23 August and 24-30 August alongside the latest week.
Reacher led the 17-23 August week with 1.52 billion minutes. Netflix's Outer Banks took No. 1 for 24-30 August with 1.49 billion minutes after the premiere of its final season.
The figures need context on how they are counted. Nielsen's streaming ratings cover viewing on TV sets only in the US. They exclude minutes watched on computers or mobile devices.
The Top 10 is ranked by total minutes viewed by viewers aged 2 and older, according to Nielsen. The company organises its Streaming TV Top 10 into original programmes, acquired programmes and films.
Behind the public charts, Nielsen now gives its client networks and platforms daily data on streaming series, rather than weekly totals. It will not publish those daily numbers itself, but clients can choose to release some figures. Brian Fuhrer, Nielsen's senior vice president of product strategy and thought leadership, described the change in comments on the new system.
What makes this stand out is speed. Fans, producers and crews used to wait a month for an independent read on a premiere. That wait is now less than two weeks.
