‘The Crown’ Ratings: According to Nielsen, an Older, Upscale Female Audience Binged Season 2

Netflix continues to refuse to share its ratings data, but Nielsen is moving forward with data of their own, reporting that the first Season 2 episode of awards contender “The Crown” averaged nearly 3 million viewers within the first three days of availability (December 8 to 10).

Taking all 10 episodes into account, within the first three days, “The Crown” averaged nearly 1.3 million viewers P2+ watching and close to 600,000 adults 18-49 viewers.

According to Nielsen’s SVOD Content Ratings, “The Crown” skews older than some of Netflix’s other offerings and is also among the streamer’s most upscale shows. Per the ratings service, half of “The Crown” audience was over 50 — outside of the adults 18-49 demo that advertisers covet (something the ad-free Netflix doesn’t need to worry about). Two-thirds of the audience within the first three days were over the age of 35.

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About 65 percent of “The Crown” audience was female, and also, according to Nielsen, 40 percent of “The Crown” households boasted incomes of more than $100,000. The median income of “The Crown” reached nearly $90,000, Nielsen said.

Overall, the average number of Season 2 episodes binged by “The Crown” adults 18-49 viewers was 2.6, on par with “Stranger Things” Season 2 (2.9 episodes).

But “The Crown” overall has a much more narrow audience than “Stranger Things,” which returned in October with a Season 2 first episode that averaged 15.8 million viewers and 11 million people 18-49 viewing over the first three days of its availability.

Here’s the episodic breakdown of how many people watched each episode within the first three days of availability:

• Episode 1 averaged nearly 3 million U.S. viewers P2+ watching and nearly 1.3 million people 18-49 viewing on the TV.
• Episode 2 averaged 2.4 million viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 3 averaged 1.8 million viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 4 averaged 1.4 million viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 5 averaged 1.1 million viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 6 averaged 861,000 viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 7 averaged 738,000 viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 8 averaged 674,000 viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 9 averaged 533,000 viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability
• Episode 10 averaged 462,000 viewers P2+ viewing over the first three days of its availability