If you were to think about some of the biggest and most talked-about shows of 2025, your mind might immediately go to a number of places. The year saw the highly-anticipated return of a long-awaited Stranger Things – which also marked the final-ever episodes of the beloved franchise. There was also, of course, the cultural touchstone that came out of Adolescence, with the conversation it ignited going so far as to spark a meeting between the UK’s Prime Minister and some of the drama’s creators. There was also that episode of The Last of Us, that we still can’t talk about.
But, believe it or not, none of those topped the chart of 2025’s most-streamed title (in the US, specifically). That spot actually goes, once again, to Bluey – yes, the heartwarming and tear-jerking family animation that’s available on Disney+.
According to the Nielsen streaming ratings (via Variety), which includes data across all content, that adorable family of dogs have taken the top spot for a second year running. Second place in 2025 went to Grey’s Anatomy, and Stranger Things actually came in third.
However, if you switch to the Nielsen chart that only looks at original titles (via Variety), the picture of what was most-streamed in 2025 changes (again, this is just for the US).
Stranger Things was the runaway winner of that top 10 – and the data that puts it at number one doesn’t even account for the finale episode, as Nielsen’s 2025 calendar only went up to December 28. As we all know, the feature-length and last-ever episode of the series released globally on New Year’s Eve (or New Year’s Day, depending on where you were in the world).
Netflix
Streaming giant Netflix actually had an impressive five shows in the 2025 streaming top 10 of originals, with Squid Game coming second and Wednesday coming in third. Ginny & Georgia, The Night Agent and Love Is Blind also featured. Elsewhere, Paramount+’s Landman and Prime Video’s Reacher also held spots in the chart.
We already knew that Stranger Things’ fifth season was a massive hit, with it previously being revealed that the first batch of episodes had beaten its own record. During the premiere week, the debut amassed an impressive 8.47 billion viewing minutes, according to Nielsen’s weekly report, beating the ‘biggest weekly viewing total ever produced’ that was previously held by season four.
Stranger Things season five has also now broken into Netflix’s most-popular series (English language) of all time, sitting just behind season four. The top spot of that global chart is still held by Wednesday.
Stranger Things is available on Netflix.
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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK’s biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world’s oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).