It seemed impossible to have another massive streaming hit in 2024, but Netflix accepted the challenge in a major way. The second season of the streamer’s international mega-hit “Squid Game” arrived on Dec. 26, officially ending the holiday season with a steady stream of blood and violence, shattering all kinds of viewership records in the process.
The South Korean series was seen in 2.2 million U.S. households in the first four days it was available, according to Samba TV data, a massive debut no matter the time of year.
However, this week’s edition of the Wrap Report looks at the full week following that big debut. While “Squid Game” was 2024’s final big streaming hit, it wasn’t the most-watched streaming program from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5. That honor belongs to “Landman,” the latest Paramount+ drama from mastermind Taylor Sheridan.
“Squid Game” still had a strong showing this week. Season 2 came in at No, 2, while Season 1 drew enough viewers to come in at No. 9. Not bad for a season more than three years old.
Netflix placed five more titles on the Top 10 this week, starting with “Missing You.” The thriller, which arrived on Jan. 1, follows a detective looking for answers after her fiancée reappears on a dating app more than a decade after his disappearance.
“Carry On,” the Christmas-travel themed feature-length thriller, lands No. 4 this week. It’s followed by Season 6 of “Virgin River.” Netflix added the latest installment of its long-running drama to its library on Dec. 19, and audiences clearly used post-holiday downtime to get caught up. “The Six Triple Eight” comes in at No. 6 this week. The film, written and directed by Tyler Perry, tells the story of an all Black, all female army battalion that solved the logistical crisis of soldiers’ mail during World War II.
No. 7 is “Dune: Part Two,” which returns to the streaming Top 10 for the first time since early June. Back then, “Dune” was riding high on Max. This week’s return is due to the blockbuster making its way to the Netflix library.
It’s followed by another blockbuster, as “Wicked” flies onto the chart thanks to a VOD release. The box office smash is actually still in theaters across the country, but many viewers took advantage of the holiday break to buy and stream the film from the comfort of their couches. In fact, the film beat out all of the other 2024 blockbuster debuts on VOD with 915k US households watching. That was almost 70% higher viewership than the six-day VOD viewership of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and more than 50% higher viewership than Deadpool & Wolverine.
Rounding out our list of most-watched streaming programs is “Beast Games” on Amazon Prime Video. The reality TV series led by YouTube star, Mr. Beast, has a reported budget of $100 million, and audiences tuned in over the holidays to catch the spectacle of 1,000 contestants competing for $5 million.
The linear chart this week was a showdown between CBS and ABC, with CNN making its way, thanks to live events, which account for the first half of our Top 10. Three of those programs were New Year’s Eve specials, including ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” which took the top spot.
CBS’s entry in December 31 programming, “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash,” comes in at No. 3, while Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen’s annual countdown comes in at No. 5 for CNN.
Sandwiched in between the New Year’s Eve coverage is “The 82nd Annual Golden Globes” telecast on CBS, which came in at No. 2, and the “2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony,” which aired on ABC on New Year’s Day and landed No. 4.
Spots No. 6 through No. 9 belong to “The Price is Right” on CBS this week, while “Wheel of Fortune” on ABC comes in at No. 10.
The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba TV’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.
