Soul (Courtesy of Disney and Pixar)
The movie tops Netflix's 'Bridgerton' and 'The Midnight Sky' among Christmas week premieres on the four platforms the ratings service measures.
Pixar's Soul became the first feature film to top Nielsen's weekly streaming rankings, debuting at No. 1 for the week of Dec. 21-27.
The movie, which premiered on Disney+, topped two other high-profile premieres during Christmas week: Drama series Bridgerton and George Clooney's feature film The Midnight Sky, both on Netflix. Wonder Woman 1984 also premiered on Christmas on HBO Max, but Nielsen's streaming measurement doesn't currently include that platform, and WarnerMedia doesn't release viewership data for HBO Max.
Soul captured about 1.67 billion minutes of viewing time — the equivalent of almost 16.7 million full runs of the 100-minute film. Bridgerton (1.2 billion minutes) and The Midnight Sky (1.11 billion) claimed the third and fourth spots on the chart behind The Office, whose last full week on Netflix before moving to Peacock delivered 1.44 billion minutes of viewing time.
A second Disney+ property, The Mandalorian, remained in the top 10 a week after its season finale, drawing slightly more than a billion minutes of viewing time. Two other originals, Netflix's The Crown and The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two, also made the top 10.
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.
Nielsen's top 10 streaming programs for Dec. 21-27 are below, with the prior week's rank in parentheses. Original streaming series and films are marked with an asterisk.
1 (nr). Soul* (Disney+), 1.67 billion minutes viewed 2 (2). The Office (Netflix), 1.44 billion 3 (nr). Bridgerton* (Netflix), 1.2 billion 4 (nr). The Midnight Sky* (Netflix), 1.11 billion 5 (1). The Mandalorian* (Disney+), 1.02 billion 6 (nr). How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Netflix), 705 million 7 (3). The Crown* (Netflix), 700 million 8 (4). Grey's Anatomy (Netflix), 691 million 9 (nr). The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two* (Netflix), 660 million 10 (8). Criminal Minds (Netflix), 648 million
THR's Rick Porter contributed to this post.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/pixars-soul-debuts-no-1-nielsen-streaming-rankings
