World news
🛸 33 Billion Minutes Spent on Star Wars Lust Year
In celebration of Star Wars Day (May 4th), Nielsen has released a report detailing the viewing habits of the iconic saga’s fanbase. The data confirms that nearly 50 years after the release of the first film, George Lucas’s franchise remains one of the most sought-after media assets in the world.
Throughout 2025, viewers in the U.S. spent a staggering 33 billion minutes (approximately 550 million hours) watching Star Wars content across streaming platforms and linear TV. Disney+ remains the primary destination for fans, having become the saga’s official home following the acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
What Are Fans Watching?
Nielsen categorized audience interest by content type:
- Feature Films: 44.2% (the largest share)
- Live-Action Series: 38.9%
- Animated Projects: 16.8%
- Documentaries: 0.2%
Among the feature films, A New Hope (Episode IV) leads the pack, followed by The Phantom Menace (Episode I) and Rogue One.
Holiday Statistics
The most popular live-action series was Andor, which amassed 7.4 billion minutes. This success was driven by the release of its second season in April-May 2025; the show maintained a spot in Nielsen’s Top 10 original series for six consecutive weeks. Rounding out the top three series were Skeleton Crew and The Mandalorian.
On the holiday itself—May 4, 2025—fans collectively consumed 637 million minutes of content. The Top 5 titles for that day were:
- Andor (fueled by new episode releases)
- A New Hope
- The Phantom Menace
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Revenge of the Sith
The Generational Divide
Nielsen also analyzed data from the first quarter of 2026 to identify preferences across different age groups:
- Generation Alpha and Boomers are unanimous in their choice: The Mandalorian.
- Gen Z shows a strong preference for the animated series The Clone Wars.
- Millennials and Gen X most appreciate the serious tone and political intrigue of Andor.
Source: Variety
