Streaming services have seen a substantial increase in viewership over the past year, as audiences have continued to flock to these platforms for their content needs. The trend began back in 2013, when Netflix first introduced original programming with the political drama series, “House of Cards.” Before this, almost all streaming content was licensed from other sources, and original programming was seen as a risk. However, it has since grown to become a key competitive advantage for streaming services, as many original titles have attracted viewers to the platforms, and in some cases, they have outperformed acquired content.
Last year, Americans streamed more than 19.4 million years of content, a 27% increase from 15 million years in 2021. This increase was driven by both the breadth of new and expanded services and the depth of content, particularly streaming originals. In the past, annual viewership reviews would highlight the immense support that deep libraries of acquired content would provide. However, in 2022, viewing minutes for top-performing original content dramatically outpaced that of top-performing acquired content, with Netflix’s “Stranger Things” taking the top slot among all series.
In total, audiences watched 52 billion minutes of “Stranger Things” in 2022, the highest total since the COVID-driven lockdowns drove audiences to watch 57.1 billion minutes of “The Office” back in 2020. This dominance of original content is even more pronounced when considering that there are only 34 episodes of “Stranger Things” compared to the 192 episodes of “The Office.”
On the other hand, sometimes just one title can make a big impact, as was the case with “Encanto,” a full-length animated feature that premiered on Disney+ in late December 2021. It was watched for a total of 27.4 million minutes, equating to 269 million viewings. While “Encanto” had 12 full months to accumulate its viewing and make the top streaming list, Netflix’s “Wednesday” made the cut with just 36 days of availability on the platform.
While original content has come of age with audiences in 2022, it’s important to note that across all streaming content – original, acquired, and movies – only four titles were originals. This highlights the continued attraction of library content for viewers who spent billions of minutes throughout the year watching popular titles such as “NCIS,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Bluey,” “Seinfeld,” “Criminal Minds,” and “The Simpsons.”
