HBO’s end-of-the-world series The Last of Us continues to be a hit with audiences. After the show with “Star Wars” star Pedro Pascal (47) and “Game of Thrones” star Bella Ramsey (19) in the leading roles had already had the second best start of an HBO series ever, the new “Top 10 Streaming list” of the US company Nielsen “The Last of Us” as a huge success: According to Nielsen, 1.2 billion minutes of the post-apocalyptic series were streamed on US television sets in the period from January 30th to February 5th.
The market research company Nielsen calculates independent viewing figures for films and series streamed on TV sets within the USA. In agreement with the streaming services, these figures will only be announced after four weeks. For the week beginning January 30, the previously released Marvel blockbuster, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, leads by a wide margin with 2.3 billion minutes streamed. It is followed in the ranking by the romantic Netflix comedy “You People” with the stars Jonah Hill (39) and Eddie Murphy (61), of which 1.6 billion minutes have been viewed, followed by the hospital series “New Amsterdam” with over 1.3 billion streamed minutes. “New Amsterdam” started in 2018. A total of 76 episodes were available during the survey period.
In fourth place is the series “The Last of Us”, of which only four episodes were available in the survey period. Therefore, the viewing figures for “The Last of Us” can be considered a great success. Compared to the previous week, the show improved by 36 percent. Linear viewership on premium cable channel HBO isn’t factored into Nielsen’s streaming rankings, so the show’s total US viewership is likely to be quite a bit higher.
Meanwhile, the Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which launched on Disney on February 1, is the third most-watched streaming film in a week since 2020. The Marvel title sits behind the witch sequel Hocus Pocus 2″ with Sarah Jessica Parker (57) and the absolute leader “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” by director Rian Johnson (49), who streamed 2.8 billion minutes within a week. In contrast to the latter two titles, however, “Black Panther 2” received a regular theatrical release beforehand, which is why the Marvel film’s viewing figures represent a great success for Marvel Studios and the Disney streaming service.
