The Year Kids and Finales Ruled Streaming: Nielsen Reveals the Champions of 2025

If 2024 was a year of transition, 2025 was the year of consolidation. Nielsen’s annual “ARTEY Awards” report confirmed a trend Hollywood executives had long suspected: children’s content and massive franchise finales are the true engines of the streaming wars. While new series struggle to find an audience, an Australian cartoon and the farewell to Hawkins dominated screens.

The Unshakable Reign of “Bluey”

Forget dragons or zombies. The most-watched program of 2025, surpassing any high-budget production, was “Bluey.” The children’s phenomenon on Disney+ racked up a staggering 45.2 billion minutes viewed.

This number reflects not only popularity among kids but the “repeat factor” that only a young audience provides. Parents leave the show running on a loop, generating metrics that adult dramas, watched only once, struggle to match. It comes as no surprise that the top kids’ movie followed suit: “KPop Demon Hunters” (Netflix) logged 20.55 billion minutes, doubling the audience of Moana 2 (Disney+).

The “Stranger Things” Farewell

In the realm of original series, Netflix kept the crown with the epic finale of “Stranger Things.” The fifth and final season generated 39.95 billion minutes, serving as the cultural anchor of the year. However, a curious data point stands out: the sci-fi series lost overall to the acquired medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” (40.92 billion), proving that the comfort of long-running library titles still retains more users than “event” releases.

New Bets and Icons of the Year

2025 wasn’t just about old hits. HBO Max struck gold with “The Pitt,” which emerged as the most-watched new original drama series (11.4 billion). In comedy, Netflix led with “Running Point” (5.1 billion).

In a league of his own, Nielsen named Seth MacFarlane the “Streaming Icon of the Year.” The sum of his creations—Family Guy, American Dad!, Ted, and The Orville—generated over 60 billion minutes combined across various platforms. As MacFarlane himself joked, “It’s a high honor to receive the first prize in show business that isn’t determined by quality.”