Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’ Kicks Off 2021 As Huge Winner In Streaming Wars

It’s official. Netflix’s Season 3 of Cobra Kai kicked off 2021 as one of most viewed original series on a streaming platform.

Second only to Netflix’s Bridgerton, the Karate Kid sequel series starring William Zabka and Ralph Macchio drew 2.6 billion viewing minutes in the streaming ‘originals’ category. The number was only slightly under Netflix’s hugely popular period drama Bridgerton.

That’s according to Nielsen rankings released Thursday for the first official week of 2021, which covers Dec. 28, 2020 to Jan. 3, 2021. Cobra Kai premiered on Jan. 1.

“Very top heavy starting off in the early 1800s moving into the early 1980s with Bridgerton and Cobra Kai, both over 2.6 billion viewing minutes so really a lot of concentration at the top of the list and nothing over a billion viewing minutes after that…” explained Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president, product strategy for Nielsen. Fuhrer noted that the holiday week’s 6.5 billion viewing minutes overall were driven by the aforementioned and the Pixar animated film Soul on Disney+.

“Quite extraordinary,” said Fuhrer.

Other originals that made up the top 10 included Chilling Adventures of Sabrina at 961 million viewing minutes, The Crown with 797 minutes and the only non-Netflix program on the originals list The Mandalorian at 707 minutes.

Virgin River, The Queen’s Gambit, Death to 2020, The Great British Baking Show and Designated Survivor rounded out the list.

The rankings include Disney+ and Hulu platforms in addition to Amazon and Netflix.

The continuation of the Sony Pictures Television film franchise, which began with the original The Karate Kid film in 1984, had a highly successful two-season run, before Netflix renewed the sequel series Cobra Kai for a fourth season.

The show, which takes place some 35 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, began as a YouTube original and gained a massive audience with more than 55 million YouTube views of its first episode. Simultaneously it earned positive reviews from critics. When YouTube couldn’t continue as the show’s platform, Netflix struck a deal with Sony Television, ordering a fourth season of the popular series. The agreement also included exclusive rights to Season 3 and access to the first two seasons.

This time around, the rivalry between The Karate Kid characters is initially told from Johnny Lawrence’s perspective (played by Zabka). Lawrence, who thinks his best days are behind him, finds new meaning by taking novice students under his wing.

Since its premiere in August, the action-drama written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, has been one of the streaming service’s top shows. The series broke a Netflix record last fall for non-originals and ranked as one of Netflix’s most streamed shows.