The shift to streaming continues to gain strength as streaming platforms saw a 19% overall increase in viewership across their top 20 shows in Q4 2024. Peacock and Paramount+ led the charge, with both achieving over 50% growth in viewership, positioning them as platforms to keep an eye on during 2025.
Here are some other key trends and highlights from our analysis of Q4’s streaming viewership data.
Originals Break Through
Streaming originals dominated the all-streaming top 20’s last quarter, with only 6 titles being acquired or regional non-originals, compared to nearly half in Q3’24. Interestingly, while 87 out of 160 total titles across platforms were non-originals, originals made a stronger showing in the top-performing tier.
This could reflect the growing trend of platforms airing content across both broadcast and streaming simultaneously, blurring the lines between originals and acquired content. Unlike Q3, where unscripted titles like docuseries and true crime found their place, Q4’s all-streaming top 20’s featured only scripted content.
Brands Take Center Stage
From GM and Microsoft in Red One to Smartfood and Benjamin Moore in It Ends with Us, brands represented by BENlabs appeared across streaming’s Top 20 in Q4. In fact, 70% of the top streaming titles actionable for product placement in Q4 featured integrations secured by BENlabs. Across all of streaming in Q4, BENlabs placed brands in 74 out of the 160 top-performing titles and delivered a total of 474 million impressions for clients in the quarter.
Who Doesn’t Love a Little Drama?
Drama led the pack in Q4, making up 62 out of the 160 titles in the Top 20’s. Comedy followed with 34 titles, and animation rounded out the top three with 21 titles. Drama also dominated the all-streaming Top 20’s, accounting for nearly half of the titles.
Red One Delivers a Holiday Bonus
Amazon’s Red One crushed expectations, quadrupling its box office numbers on streaming to become the highest-viewed Amazon title in the Top 20’s this year. This success reinforces the power of holiday content. While Netflix often leads in this space, Red One proved that when Amazon delivers a quality holiday film Prime viewers
show up.
Horror and Thrillers Prove Frighteningly Attractive
Horror and thriller titles solidified their place as some of the most underutilized but over-performing genres for brands. Nearly every platform featured at least one horror or thriller in the Top 20’s in Q4 2024. Subservience was a shining example of the genre’s ability to deliver high returns for low production costs, and Carry-On nearly took the top spot on Amazon further proving the genre’s value.
