Stranger Things Season 4 Smashes A New Record

Stranger Things Season 4 has smashed a Netflix record and could be poised to hit another. It's been an overwhelming success for the streamer

By Doug Norrie | Published

stranger things season 4

Stranger Things Season 4 has set a new Netflix record and can we really be all that surprised? Considering the fanfare, anticipation, and expectation around this latest story for the Hawkins, Indiana crew, we knew that there would be pretty bonkers numbers for the series. But it looks like the show met those and then exceeded them in a big way. Deadline is reporting that Stranger Things Season 4 has become the most-watched English language series in the history of Netflix, and it kind of blew away the competition. Considering the performance on the streamer, it really makes you start wondering about what could happen with the second half of this season which releases in July.

According to the Deadline reporting, Stranger Things Season 2 hit a whopping 781.04 million hours watched in just the first two weeks plus on the streamer. To make some comparisons here it’s important to know that Netflix typically reports the overall numbers for the first 28 days on the platform, and in this show’s case, we are only through 17 days. The previous record holders for an English language series were Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton which rang in at 625.5 and 656.2 million hours respectively. So with 11 days to go, Stranger Things Season 4 already is set to lap the field on those numbers.

Where things start to get really interesting for Stranger Things Season 4 is whether it can reach the all-time numbers for Netflix. With the distinction of most-watched English language show, it now has to compete with two other offerings that have put up the best numbers on the platform. That would be Money Heist Part 5 which sits at 792 million hours and then the big one, Squid Game which is ringing in at 1.65 billion hours. That one will be pretty tough to catch considering Stranger Things would need to more than double its viewership with only a remaining 11 days. It’s looking likely that Season 4 will land second overall when it’s all said and done.

Considering the hype and expectation around Stranger Things Season 4, it’s not at all surprising to see it reach crazy heights on Netflix this time around. It had been almost three years since Season 3 was released with the show facing significant production delays related to the pandemic and other scheduling issues along the way. It meant a protracted timeline that had fans chomping at the bit for the next run of stories in this universe. What it also meant was the main players, The Party if you will, had aged considerably in the time off. Stars like Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and others look noticeably different this time around.

It won’t be that long now until we have Stranger Things Season 4 wrapped up as well. The second half of the season is set to hit Netflix on July 1st, just in time for the Independence Day holiday weekend in the States. Could that set of episodes eclipse this one in terms of viewing hours? It’s not inconceivable especially considering where things left off this time around.