Animation Dominates 2025 Streaming: ‘Bluey’ Repeats As Nielsen’s Most-Watched Title

To the surprise of nobody who pays any amount of attention to these kinds of things, Nielsen’s newly released 2025 ARTEY Awards data, ranking the year’s most-streamed titles, proved once again that animation is among the most important pillars of the streaming ecosystem.

End-of-year 2025 data shows that viewers spent an astonishing 16.7 trillion minutes streaming during the year, a 19% increase over 2024 and the largest total ever recorded.

(Gunsmoke? Really?)

Sitting at the very top of that dogpile was Bluey. The Australian preschool juggernaut earned both Top Overall Streaming Title and Top Acquired Series, racking up 45.2 billion viewing minutes in 2025. That number didn’t just put it ahead of other animated shows; it made Bluey the most-watched program of the year across all genres, live-action included. For the second year in a row.

Animation also topped the 2025 feature list. Netflix and Sony’s KPop Demon Hunters was the single most-watched movie title, animation or live-action, of the year across all platforms, at 20.6 billion minutes watched. The musical is Netflix’s most-watched original ever, with a soundtrack that shattered Billboard records, and now has an extensive toy line to expand its cultural empire.

Animation’s dominance didn’t stop there. Nielsen’s newly introduced Streaming Icon of the Year award went to Seth MacFarlane. His catalog, led by Family Guy and American Dad!, collectively surpassed 60 billion streaming minutes, proving that it’s not just kids’ content that drives streaming trends.

Some specific data published by Nielsen on McFarlane’s shows:

• Family Guy: The series ranked as the second most-watched adult animation streaming title and the No. 7 streaming program overall in 2025. In a display of incredible consistency, Family Guy charted on Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 for an astonishing 37 weeks in 2025. Family Guy remains a pop-culture staple, earning MacFarlane multiple Emmy Awards—including four for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, tying for the most wins in that category’s history. All episodes of Family Guy stream on Hulu.
• American Dad!: The series secured the No. 3 most-watched adult animation streaming title in 2025, further solidifying MacFarlane’s dominance in the genre. He is the co-creator, executive producer, and primary voice actor for the long-running animated favorite. The new season will air its anticipated 400th episode in 2026, and all episodes stream on Hulu.
• Family Guy was the top streaming show among adults 18-34 in 2025. American Dad! ranked fifth among the same age group. Both are among the longest-running shows in TV history.

As streaming platforms continue to account for an increasing share of total TV viewing, animation has emerged as one of their most reliable foundations on which to build subscriber bases. Whether it’s preschool comfort viewing or broad adult animated comedy, the data clearly shows that audiences will always tune in for their favorite toons.