Netflix Series Soars to Top of Nielsen Streaming Chart

Netflix keeps their viewership numbers close to the chest, but the latest Neilsen Ratings prove that not only are some of their recent shows are pulling massive numbers, but the shows that they acquired from more traditional networks are paying off. Deadline reports that Lucifer, which just wrapped its six-season run (the streaming service acquired the formerly Fox fantasy drama for its fourth season and beyond) had a total of 1.05 billion minutes viewed In the week of Sept. 6-12.

However, despite those Impressive numbers, Lucifer was edged out of the top spot by another Netflix original. Clickbait, a thriller starring Entourage‘s Adrian Grenier was number one with 1.1 billion total viewing minutes that week. It is important to note as well that while Lucifer has 93 episodes available to stream, Clickbait only has 8. Manifest, another drama that Netflix saved from cancellation from NBC, rounded out the top three with 831 million minutes streamed over 42 episodes.

Clickbait was huge for Netflix right away, jumping straight to the No. 1 series spot on the streaming within the first few days of its release, and it’s still a hot topic. Reviews for the show have been mixed, but many fans seem to have been hooked by its premise. Clickbait is a drama about the cognitive dissonance of social media, and the gulf between a person’s behavior online and in real life. It stars Zoe Kazan, Betty Gabriel, Phoenix Raei, Abraham Lim, and Motell G. Foster. 

The series has struck a nerve with many viewers who find themselves in awe of how social media has fundamentally changed society on so many levels. However, as with any divisive topic, some are not altogether pleased with the depiction here. Clickbait was created by Tony Ayres and Christian White, with Ayres serving as showrunner. The series is set in the U.S., but was filmed in Melbourne, Australia. It mostly follows Pia Brewer (Kazan) trying to unravel the mystery of her brother Nick’s (Grenier) kidnapping. The day after she has a fight with Nick, he appears in a viral video badly beaten, holding a sign that reads: “at 5 million views, I die.” The show grapples with online impulse control, the pitfalls of fame and the ethics of punishing abusers, though many critics feel that one or more of these topics was addressed incompletely in the series.