“Stranger Things,” which premiered in July on Netflix, has been one of the streaming service’s most buzzed-about and best-reviewed original series. It is also one of the most watched.

Ratings provided to Variety by Symphony Advanced Media reveal that the first eight episodes of “Stranger Things” make up the third most watched season of a Netflix original series to debut in the last year. Within its first 35 days on the streaming service, the supernatural drama averaged 14.07 million adults 18-49. Only season one of “Fuller House” and season four of “Orange is the New Black” drew larger demo audiences in their first 35 days.

Among Netflix originals, “Stranger Things” ranks ahead of “Making a Murderer” (13.35 million), “Daredevil” season two (13.35 million), “Jessica Jones” (6.26 million), “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” season two (6.08 million), “The Ranch” (6.01 million), “House of Cards” season four (5.67 million), “F is for Family” (4.81 million) all other Netflix series that Symphony tracks.

Related Stories

digital faces VIP+

Generative AI Fueling ‘Exponential’ Rise in Celebrity NIL Rip-Offs: Exclusive Data

Margo Martindale. Photo Credit: Michael Becker

JonBenét Ramsey Series at Paramount+ Casts Margo Martindale

Netflix, like competitors Hulu and Amazon, has consistently declined to release ratings information about its programming. Executives have, when pressed for viewership data, argued that because Netflix is an ad-free subscription service, ratings are not germane to its business model.

Popular on Variety

But in the last year, multiple measurement companies have started to independently gauge viewership for streaming shows. Symphony in September 2015 began tracking original series on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, using audio-code recognition software and a panel of more than 15,000 people.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in July, Netflix chief content officer ted Sarandos expressed skepticism at efforts by Symphony and Nielsen to measure Netflix viewership. “Both Nielsen and Symphony claim accuracy, but one of them reported the viewing of Season 4 of ‘Orange is the New Black’ to be two times what the other reported,” Sarandos said. He then used those numbers to claim bragging rights, adding, “Either number, if true, would be great for Netflix, especially since it’s only U.S. viewing and it’s only for the first 35 days of release.”

Sarandos did not offer any internal Netflix data to counter ratings claims made by Symphony, Nielsen or any other company. “The focus of the ratings companies has really no relevance on us,” he said.

Data provided by Symphony in June showed that Netflix’s top-rated original shows far outpace most series on Hulu and Amazon.

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, “Stranger Things” has a 95% “fresh” rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the best reviewed series of 2016 thus far. Variety‘s Maureen Ryan wrote in July of the show’s first four episodes, “‘Stranger Things’ is the kind of genre entertainment that doesn’t forget the second word of that phrase, but it is primarily interested in watching believably flawed people wrestle with the idea that some things are unknowable, and that having “answers” doesn’t necessarily prevent the arrival of pain and confusion.”

Read More About:

Jump to Comments

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXKCjq2taKaVrMBwv9OrmKeflad6tbTIp56sZaSrerOt06KloKtdo7K1ssuir2aln6jBbsPArZqhnZRifnN8kHFrbWhoZnw%3D