Nielsen has released its annual report on the most-watched TV shows and movies on streaming services for 2024. In 2024, streaming viewing was up 10% over 2023, with 12 trillion minutes viewed.
The most-watched TV show of 2024 (and thus most-watched animated TV show) was “Bluey,” with 55.6 billion minutes viewed. Animation, as usual, put in a strong showing this year, especially for movies. Below is a look at the most watched cartoons on streaming services for 2024.
The most streamed animated TV shows of 2024
- Bluey (Disney+), 55.6 billion minutes viewed (#1 overall)
- Family Guy (Hulu), 42.4 billion minutes viewed (#3 overall)
- Bob’s Burgers (Hulu), 36.8 billion minutes viewed (#4 overall)
- SpongeBob SquarePants (Paramount+), 27.9 billion minutes viewed (#10 overall)
The Disney+/Hulu bundle put in a strong showing here, with Disney’s shows making up four of the top 10 overall most-watched shows. “Bluey” reigns supreme, like last year; people of all ages love the Australian dogs. People also apparently still love the Fox Sunday night animated lineup, as “Family Guy” and “Bob’s Burgers” put in strong showings. To my surprise, “The Simpsons” isn’t in the top 10, despite the back catalog being on Disney+ and recent/new episodes streaming on Hulu. Granted, “The Simpsons”‘s popularity has definitely waned; the show’s moving to Wednesdays, after being on Sunday nights since the Clinton administration. However, Nielsen notes it did make the top 30, along with “South Park.”
That said, at least one Matt Groening-tied show does appear in a top 10 list. Under the top 10 most-watched originals list, “Futurama” comes in at #6 as the top cartoon entry, with 11.75 billion minutes watched. (The other animation-including entry is “Gabby’s Dollhouse,” at #9 with 10.74 billion minutes watched.) However, “Futurama” also includes the pre-Hulu episodes in its watch count.
“SpongeBob” is one of Paramount+’s main selling points, as it clocks in in tenth place overall. The other Paramount+ shows joining it in the top 10: “Young Sheldon,” “NCIS,” and “Criminal Minds.” Surprisingly, Paramount’s top 10 entries include none of the “Star Trek” spin-offs, despite “Star Trek” being one of the biggest reasons to get Paramount+.
While not animation related, Nielsen states reruns of “Little House on the Prairie” and “Gunsmoke” are popular on streaming. This includes Black viewers, who (for some reason) make up 17% and 36% of all viewers of “Little House” and “Gunsmoke” respectively. My only guess: Black viewers also make up a sizable percentage of viewers of free ad-supported services; “Gunsmoke” is available on Pluto TV. I’m definitely not a big viewer of either show, though my mother enjoys Westerns, and she grew up with “Gunsmoke” as a first-run show.
The most streamed animated movies of 2024
- Moana (Disney+), 13.03 billion minutes viewed
- Super Mario Bros. Movie (Netflix), 11.72 billion minutes viewed
- Trolls Band Together (Peacock, Netflix, Prime Video), 7.44 billion minutes viewed
- Minions (Netflix), 6.77 billion minutes viewed
- Encanto (Disney+), 6.61 billion minutes viewed
- Frozen (Disney+), 6.28 billion minutes viewed
- Paw Patrol: The Movie (Paramount+), 6.05 billion minutes viewed
- Inside Out (Disney+), 5.78 billion minutes viewed
- The Boss Baby (Netflix), 5.59 billion minutes viewed
Like last year, animation dominates this year’s most-watched movies. (Amazon Prime Video’s live-action “Red One” comes in at #10.) Topping the list is “Moana,” a film popular enough that its recent sequel has pulled in over $1 billion worldwide. Most of the popular films are on Disney+, but a few DreamWorks and Illumination films also appear, such as a “Trolls” sequel and “Minions.” For “Trolls,” I assume most of its viewing comes from Netflix or Prime Video, versus Peacock.
The only film not from Disney or Comcast (DreamWorks/Illumination) is “Paw Patrol: The Movie,” on Paramount+; by default, it’s the most popular film on that streaming service. Again, Nickelodeon’s a strong selling point for Paramount+.
Image by Andrés Rodríguez from Pixabay
My kids certainly contributed to the 55.6 billion minutes viewed of Bluey. Although lately, those minutes have been exclusively going to Pink Panther. It baffles me a bit, but Pink Panther is played on tv at my kindergartener’s after-school program. I’m guessing they play Pink Panther, because the show has little sound, so you can watch the show and get it without the sound being on.