While there are plenty of summer blockbusters playing in theaters right now, when it comes to the small screen, one show is dominating the rest. As we previously reported, Netflix’s Stranger Things has reached peak popularity, thanks to the newly-released third season. Having hit the streaming platform just in time for the Fourth of July, the fresh batch of episodes proved popular with subscribers. A few days after release, over 40 million households sat down to watch, and close to 20 million binged the season during the long weekend.
The thing is, these numbers come from Netflix themselves – while we don’t think the streaming giant is outright fabricating their statistics, there is the chance that they are tweaking and selectively choosing figures and data. However, some new research lends a little more credibility to the aforementioned viewer counts.
As reported by Variety (via ScreenRant), an article from Wall Street firm Cowen & Co. found that of 2,500 surveyed consumers, 13 percent of former Netflix subscribers said they plan to rejoin the service in order to catch the latest season of Stranger Things. Interestingly, over half (51 percent) of current subscribers also plan to watch the new episodes (that’s a rather impressive attach rate). Of the 2,500 surveyed who aren’t paid Netflix customers, 5 percent intend to join the platform in order to catch the show.
Aside from the power of nostalgia (which the supernatural series most definitely taps into), the series’ success could also be contributed to its level of quality and flagship status. Since the cancellation of every Marvel project, and with House of Cards falling flat on its face during the last season, it seems that Stranger Things has positioned itself as the “must-watch” show on the platform. And with Netflix planning to end the series after its next season, we’re definitely interested to see what direction the final batch of episodes will take.