‘Virgin River’ Tops ‘Loki’ in Impressive Debut on Nielsen’s Latest Streaming Rankings
Move aside, “Loki.” There’s a new king of streaming television viewership in town… this week, anyway.
Netflix premiered the third season of its “Virgin River” romantic-drama series July 9 and the show’s latest batch of episodes drew in over 1.4 million viewers in its premiere week, according to the latest report from Nielsen. The show toppled Disney+’s “Loki,” which had been leading Nielsen’s reports for several weeks; “Loki” was the second-most viewed show of the week, with 1.08 million viewers.
The viewership success of “Virgin River,” which boasts 30 episodes between its three seasons, is all the more impressive given the timing of its Season 3 premiere. Nielsen’s report was based on viewership from July 5 to July 11, which means that “Virgin River” Season 3 was only out for three days yet still managed to attract more viewers than its contemporaries. Nielsen’s report only factored five of the six episodes in Season 1 of “Loki” for this report; the superhero show’s season finale is expected to be included in Nielsen’s report next week.
Nielsen’s data is only based on United States audiences using TV sets, and only covers Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+. The company releases its streaming data reports on a roughly one-month delay due to an arrangement with the aforementioned streaming services. The entertainment industry’s major streamers do not regularly release their own verifiable viewership data.
As for Amazon Prime Video, “Bosch” was the streaming service’s sole title on Nielsen’s latest list. The show was the fifth most-viewed show of the week, with 355 million views. Hulu’s Elisabeth Moss-led “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which has long been a mainstay on Nielsen’s list, was the tenth most-viewed show of the week with 185 million minutes. Netflix’s “Lucifer,” which topped several of Nielsen’s recent lists following the premiere of the second half of its fifth season in May.
1. Virgin River (Netflix) – 1,449 million minutes
2. Loki (Disney+) – 1,080 million minutes
3. Sex/Life (Netflix) – 489 million minutes
4. Atypical (Netflix) – 400 million minutes
5. Bosch (Amazon Prime Video) – 355 million minutes
6. Lucifer (Netflix) – 354 million minutes
7. Too Hot to Handle (Netflix) – 306 million minutes
8. The Boss Baby: Back in Business (Netflix) – 229 million minutes
9. Workin’ Moms (Netflix) – 200 million minutes
10. The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) – 185 million minutes
