'Criminal Minds' Ascends to Top of Nielsen Streaming List

With a light load of streaming premieres at the end of January, a stalwart acquired show rose to the top of Nielsen's viewer rankings.

Criminal Minds drew the most viewing time in the week of Jan. 25-31, with Netflix users watching 984 million minutes of the long-running crime drama. (The show is headed for a revival at Paramount+, where it also streams.)

The previous week's top show, Bridgerton, fell one spot to second overall with 936 million minutes of viewing time. YA series Fate: The Winx Saga finished third, and second among originals, with 918 million minutes. The two shows were well ahead of any other original.

The top 10 movies chart continues to offer up some oddities, with the 2010 thriller The Next Three Days — which made only $21 million at the box office in its initial release — leading the pack with 646 million minutes (equivalent to about 4.86 million complete runs of the movie). The 2013 Jason Statham film Homefront (which Netflix added on Jan. 18) finished third for the week with 402 million minutes (about 4 million complete plays).

Streaming platforms contend Nielsen's methodology doesn't capture the full scope of viewing on devices other than TV sets. Nielsen also only measures U.S. audiences, not those in other countries, and currently only includes Amazon, Disney+, Hulu and Netflix in its rankings.

Nielsen's streaming top 10s for Jan. 25-31 are below. Original streaming films are marked with an asterisk.

Original Series

1. Bridgerton (Netflix), 936 million minutes viewed
2. Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix), 918 million
3. Cobra Kai (Netflix), 568 million
4. Blown Away (Netflix), 438 million
5. WandaVision (Disney+), 431 million
6. The Crown (Netflix), 338 million
7. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (Netflix), 321 million
8. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (Netflix), 319 million
9. Longmire (Netflix), 304 million
10. The Great British Baking Show (Netflix), 292 million

Acquired Series

1. Criminal Minds (Netflix), 984 million minutes
2. Grey's Anatomy (Netflix), 841 million
3. Mariposa de Barrio (Netflix), 692 million
4. Schitt's Creek (Netflix), 686 million
5. Outlander (Netflix), 654 million
6. NCIS (Netflix), 564 million
7. Henry Danger (Netflix), 561 million
8. Cocomelon (Netflix), 528 million
9. Supernatural (Netflix), 519 million
10. New Girl (Netflix), 399 million

Movies

1. The Next Three Days (Netflix), 646 million minutes
2. The Dig* (Netflix), 430 million
3. Homefront (Netflix), 402 million
4. Finding 'Ohana* (Netflix), 350 million
5. The Vanished (Netflix), 349 million
6. Below Zero* (Netflix), 237 million
7. Moana (Disney+), 218 million
8. Soul* (Disney+), 200 million
9. Outside the Wire* (Netflix), 190 million
10. Frozen II (Disney+), 186 million