As soon as the leaves start to turn, it’s time for “Gilmore Girls” to shine. The cozy 2000s drama series from Amy Sherman-Palladino persists as a fall rewatch staple, and shows no signs of slowing down as it marks its 25th anniversary.
Just after Labor Day, “Gilmore Girls” shot back into Nielsen’s top 10 streaming charts for the first time since January, landing as the No. 9 most-watched acquired streaming show during the week of Sept. 8 with 534 million minutes across Hulu and Netflix. Two-thirds of the audience were women, and notably, adults 18-34 made up 35% of watch time. (The audience for “Gilmore Girls” fall will likely persist on subsequent Nielsen streaming lists, which reports viewership with a month of delay).
“Gilmore Girls” has been a streaming staple since it got on Netflix in 2014, with streaming viewership consistently on the rise from into the late 2010s and early 2020s, when average viewership for the fall grew from 1.87 billion viewing minutes in 2017 to 2.58 billion viewing minutes in 2019 and 4.12 billion viewing minutes in 2021, according to data from Nielsen.
The “Gilmore Girls” fall phenomenon can be traced back to a social media trend, which, based on the streaming numbers, seemingly arose in 2022 and recirculates every fall with edits leaning into the show’s cozy fall aesthetic reminding users across TikTok and Instagram it’s time for their annual rewatch. It’s this aspect of “Gilmore Girls” that sets it apart from other popular legacy shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Law & Order: SVU,” which don’t have seasonal peaks.
While streaming viewership for “Gilmore Girls” had already been on the rise, the first hints of the “Gilmore Girls” fall phenomenon began in 2022, when year-over-year streaming viewership grew 80.7% to reach a whopping 7.44 billion viewing minutes in fall 2022. Viewership grew even more by fall 2023, when the show averaged 7.98 billion viewing minutes, before leveling off to 7.18 billion viewing minutes in fall 2024, which still marked an impressive 74.4% uptick from fall 2021.
With the trend leaning in the fall of it all, as expected, winter is the No. 2 viewing season for “Gilmore Girls” in recent years. Notably, viewership for winter 2022 nearly matched the fall viewership with 7.41 billion viewing minutes, but the gap between fall and winter widened in the coming years, with viewership falling 25.4% to 5.96 billion viewing minutes in winter 2023, as well as dropping 6.8% to 6.7 billion viewing minutes in winter 2024, which was notably when “Gilmore Girls” was added to Hulu. Time will tell if the added streaming service will make for an even bigger “Gilmore Girls” fall this year.
“While TV viewing has gotten increasingly fragmented, there are a few trends you can always rely on: Kids viewing goes up in the summer, holiday movies are a hit in the winter, and fans will always flock to TV in football season,” Nielsen director of data communications Brian Hughes said in a statement to TheWrap. “But it’s remarkable that a single show like ‘Gilmore Girls’ has become a must-watch every fall. Our streaming data continues to show that fans want to spend time in Stars Hollow once the leaves start changing.”
“Gilmore Girls” began popping up on Nielsen’s streaming lists at just about the same time last year, when the fall favorite hit the acquired list in the No. 8 spot during the week of Sept. 2, 2024 with 572 million viewing minutes. The show rose to No. 6 on the acquired list with 578 million viewing minutes the next week and made it into the overall top 10 list by the week of Sept. 16 with 640 million minutes viewed. It then fell out of the overall list by the next week as it secured 623 million viewing minutes, and dropped off even more during the week of Sept. 30 with 565 million viewing minutes.
Throughout October 2024, “Gilmore Girls” held strong on the top 10 acquired list, tallying up 578 million minutes viewed during the week of Oct. 7, 559 million minutes during during the week of Oct. 14, 526 million minutes viewed during the week of Oct. 21 and 514 million minutes viewed during the week of Oct. 28.
Streaming viewership for “Gilmore Girls” has consistently brought in a predominantly female and younger audience, with adults 18-34 making up 51% of the audience during the week of Sept. 2, and 56% of its audience during the week of Sept. 16.
The younger demo is an interesting phenomenon for the classic series, which first aired from 2000-2007 on YA-centric linear channels the WB and the CW — networks that either don’t exist anymore or have pivoted their strategies away from soapy teen dramas in recent years. The older end of the demo was in their teens when “Gilmore Girls” was first airing, making way for a nostalgic rewatch. But the younger end of the demo seems to have a similar nostalgia factor for the series despite not watching it as it aired weekly.
While the “Gilmore Girls” fall trend has been prevalent since it first got on Netflix in 2014, the show has gained some additional momentum this year amid its 25th anniversary this October, which was marked by Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel’s reunion at September’s 77th Emmy Awards as well as an immersive holiday event at the Warner Bros. Hollywood studio tour.
Chatter surrounding the anniversary also brought up the possibility of a “Gilmore Girls” reunion movie, which has excited many fans. For now, a documentary on the making of “Gilmore Girls” — which notably does not feature Graham, Bledel or Palladino — is in the works.
“60 Minutes” makes ratings strides with NFL lead-in
With the help of the NFL doubleheader lead-in, the Sunday, Oct. 12 installment of CBS’ “60 Minutes” became TV’s No. 1 most-watched non-sports primetime program for the week with 10.15 million viewers tuning in for the episode. The episode scored its best audience since Nov. 17, 2024, and was up 45% when compared to the same night last year with overall viewing, and also saw a 114% uptick on Paramount+ compared to the prior week.
On social media, “60 Minutes” reached 45.2 million total video views.
Telemundo scores big with double premieres
The double premiere of “La Isla: Desafío Extremo” and “Dinastía Casillas” last week boosted Telemundo to primetime victory last Tuesday, with the network becoming the night’s No. 1 Spanish-language network in primetime among adults 18-49, outpacing Univision by 24%. Both series ranking as the No. 1 most-watched show on Spanish-language television in their respective timeslots, with “La Isla: Desafío Extremo” scoring 1.14 million total viewers and 379,000 viewers in the 18–49 demo while “Dinastía Casillas” averaged 1.32 million total viewers and 522,000 viewers among adults 18-49.
ALCS brings in audiences for Fox Sports
This year’s American League Championship Series (ALCS) has brought in notable audiences across Fox networks, with the Seattle Mariners Game 5 victory over the Detroit Tigers becoming the most-watched LDS game since the Detroit-New York Game 5 in the 2011 tournament. The game scored 8.72 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming services, and 8.59 million viewers on Fox alone.
Elsewhere, the Seattle Mariners’ Game 1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays scored 5.31 across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming services, and 5.19 viewers on Fox alone, marking a 32% uptock from last year’s ALCS Game 1 between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees, which scored 3.94 million viewers.
