What To Know
- The Rookie outperformed long-running procedural franchises such as Law & Order and NCIS in overall streaming minutes for the first half of 2026.
- Bluey, last year’s leader, dropped to second place with 22.809 billion minutes.
We’re just over halfway through 2026, and Nielsen has released streaming data for January through June — and some of the winners, especially broadcast shows doing well on there, may surprise you.
Perhaps most notable is that The Rookie, while 12th in the Top 20, is ahead of two very popular procedural franchises that have been on air much longer and therefore have more episodes (and minutes) available when it comes to overall streaming. With only 144 episodes (on Hulu), 12.817 billion minutes of The Rookiewere watched in those six months. In comparison, with 596 episodes, 11.952 billion minutes of SVU were streamed on Hulu and Peacock, 11.870 billion minutes of 508 episodes of NCIS were watched on Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, and Pluto TV, and 11.387 billion minutes of Law & Order were streamed on Hulu and Peacock. (All include seasons that were currently airing on broadcast.)
Also behind The Rookie are Landman (12.4 billion minutes with 20 episodes on Paramount+), Young Sheldon (10.905 billion minutes watched of 141 episodes on HBO Max, Netflix, and Paramount+), and Friends (10.56 billion minutes of 243 episodes on HBO Max).
Netflix
While Young Sheldon may be 19th on this list, the original series in the franchise, The Big Bang Theory not only beat out fellow comedy Friends, it also falls fifth on the list, with 20.404 billion minutes of its 281 episodes watched on HBO Max.
And while Bluey may have topped the list of most-streamed TV series of 2025, with 45 billion minutes watched, it’s fallen to number 2 on the list for the first half of 2026, with 22.809 billion minutes. Stranger Things, which released its final episodes at the end of 2025, tops the list with 23.261 billion minutes watched.
Making up the rest of the top 10 are: The Pitt (21.118 billion minutes), Grey’s Anatomy (20.414 billion minutes), The Big Bang Theory, Bridgerton (17.148 billion minutes), SpongeBob Squarepants (16.894 billion minutes), Family Guy (15.957 billion minutes), and Paw Patrol (13.559 billion minutes). Most of those were in the top 10 for 2025’s most streamed shows; Criminal Minds had been 10th on that list but dropped one spot, to 11th, for the first half of 2026 (with 13.145 billion minutes).
Looking at original series on streaming, joining Stranger Things, The Pitt, Bridgerton, and Landman in the top 10 are: The Lincoln Lawyer (10.533 billion minutes), The Boys (9.597 billion minutes), The Night Agent (8.817 billion minutes), Ms. Rachel (8.597 billion minutes), Fallout (7.983 billion minutes), and His & Hers (7.845 billion minutes).
Which shows did you stream in the first half of 2026? Let us know in the comments section below.