Netflix Says 40.7 Million Accounts Watched ‘Stranger Things’ Season 3 in Its First Four Days, Breaking All Of Their Existing Viewing Records

Maybe absence really does make the heart grow fonder — at least when it comes to Stranger Things. On Monday night, Netflix revealed that the third season of the sci-fi juggernaut has been watched by a whopping 40.7 million accounts since its July 4 premiere. According to the streaming giant, this figure is record-setting: Stranger Things‘ Season 3 stats are higher than those of “any other film or series in its first four days” on the service. Not bad for a show that hasn’t aired new episodes in nearly two years.

“Stranger Things 3 is breaking Netflix records!” the Netflix US account tweeted on Monday evening. “40.7 million household accounts have been watching the show since its July 4 global launch — more than any film or series in its first four days. And 18.2 million have already finished the entire season.”

Stranger Things is the second breakout hit for Netflix this summer. In June, the streaming giant announced that the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy Murder Mystery was watched by 30.9 million households in its first three days on the service — also a record. While these parameters are clearly different — four-day versus three-day — it’s possible that Stranger Things also bested Murder Mystery‘s three-day record, as it’s likely that more than 30 of Stranger Things‘ 40.7 million viewers watched during the three-day span after its release (it seems unlikely that over 10 million people waited to watch until Sunday, July 7, the fourth day in Netflix’s tally).

So, where is Netflix getting these numbers? The streaming giant counts a “view” whenever someone watches more than 70 percent of a movie or television episode. In this case, viewers only need to watch 70 percent of the Stranger Things Season 3 premiere — about 35 minutes of “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?” — to be counted in the figure provided in Netflix’s tweet. But that being said, the company also measures views on the account level, rather than the profile level (hence the “40.7 million household accounts” wording), so it’s possible that more than 40 million people watched Stranger Things in its first four days. For example, if I share a Netflix account with my family, but my brother and I both watch Stranger Things Season 3 on our respective profiles, it still only counts as a single view.

Congrats, Stranger Things. But keep in mind: we’re only on Day 5. It’s likely that there are plenty more records to break in the days and weeks to come.

Watch Stranger Things on Netflix