It’s a brand new year, and yet the top of the Samba TV Weekly Wrap report streaming chart looks awfully familiar, thanks to returning favorites, renewed interest in old titles, movie sequels and, of course, a rivalry for the top spot.
“Stranger Things” rules the roost this week, as the Netflix epic ended its five-season, 10-year run with a 2-hour finale delivered on New Year’s Eve. With 3.7 million U.S. households watching in the first five days it was available, the finale proved to be even more popular than Season 5’s first episode, which debuted on Thanksgiving day, and episode five, which arrived on Christmas.
“Stranger Things” also evokes the show’s upside-down mirror universe this week as its first season takes the tenth and final spot on our most-watched list, as audiences either raced to catch up, or decided to start all over again after the big finale.
The Wrap Report provides an exclusive first look at the most watched movies and TV series from the past week across both streaming and linear television sourced from viewership trends collected from Samba TV’s panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Census.
As “Stranger Things” goes out on top, it bumps another massive title down to second place. “Landman” was one of a select few non-Netflix or HBO Max titles to top the streaming chart in 2025, and took the honor of being the final chart-topper of the year before The Wrap Report’s holiday hiatus. With a pair of episodes left in its second season, expect “Landman” to take the crown again very soon.
That’s not to say Netflix is without contenders. The giant streamer has two top-five debuts this week, starting with “Run Away” in third. The British thriller tells the story of a father whose search for his runaway daughter uncovers deeper secrets – just the kind of fare from across the pond that Netflix viewers eat up.
Up next is a different kind of familiar Netflix flavor, the true crime documentary. The latest, “Evil Influencer: The Jody Hildebrandt Story,” tells the unsettling story of the popular YouTuber who was convicted of child abuse.
In fifth place this week is “Fallout,” which returned to Prime Video for its second season beginning on December 17. With a weekly release schedule and a built-in fanbase thanks to its video game origins, expect the series to be an early-year hit that sticks around the chart.
“Wrath of Man,” in sixth place this week, checks yet another box on the Netflix trope bingo card, the forgotten action move that suddenly gets popular on streaming. The 2021 thriller, a modest box-office success, reunites director Guy Ritchie and action star Jason Statham.
In seventh is “Emily in Paris,” as the long-running Netflix season returns for its fifth season. “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” also on Netflix, and the third in a trilogy of mystery movies, is eighth this week.
In ninth is “The Pitt,” which returns to the chart after a long absence. The HBO Max emergency room drama was a sleeper hit last year, a steady presence in the lower half of the chart that never matched the heights of its streaming peers “The White Lotus” or “The Last of Us.” Following several Emmy wins and spots on year-end critics lists, it’s clear the show has built a groundswell of interest ahead of its January 8 Season 2 debut. Could we see “The Pitt” elevated to the top of the charts as 2026 progresses?
Switching the dial to linear, we find a chart full of familiar names ringing in the new year. ABC tops the chart with the epically-titled “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.” In second place is the telecast of the annual Rose Parade held on New Year’s Day.
CBS helped ring in the new year with “Nashville’s Big Bash,” in third this week, while CNN gets in on the action in fourth thanks to the hijinks from Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.
ABC celebrated the year that was with “The Year: 2025,” in fifth place.
Even with a rerun on January 4, CBS’s “Tracker” makes the Top 10 this week, in sixth. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrated a wide range of luminaries – including Bad Company, Cyndi Lauper and Outkast – with its annual induction ceremony. The New Year’s Day telecast, which aired on ABC, is in seventh place this week.
NBC has its own year-in-review special with “A Toast to 2025!” in ninth, and two airings of “Wheel of Fortune” claim the eight and tenths spots this week.