The Wheel of Time Hits 1 Billion Streaming Minutes in First Week, #1 in Nielsen Chart

The Wheel of Time is off to a strong start, with the Amazon Prime series topping Nielsen’s Original Series streaming chart for the week of November 16-21. Nielsen released the rankings this week, which revealed that viewers streamed 1.16 billion minutes of The Wheel of Time during its premiere week last month. Amazon Prime released three episodes of The Wheel of Time during that week with a total run time of 169 minutes, meaning that an average of 7 million viewers watched each episode. The Wheel of Time was Amazon’s most streamed series since Hunters back in February 2020. The series is also the first Amazon Prime series to top 1 billion streaming minutes since The Boys back in September 2020. 

The Nielsen ratings is another strong sign for The Wheel of Time, which is one of Amazon’s most ambitious streaming series to date. Based on a 13-book series of novels by Robert Jordan, Amazon previously announced that the show was their most watched series of 2021. Amazon already renewed The Wheel of Time for a second season, which is currently in production. 

The official series description for The Wheel of Time reads: “The Wheel of Time is one of the most popular and enduring fantasy series of all time, with more than 90 million books sold. Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.

Based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy novels, The Wheel of Time was adapted for television by executive producer/showrunner Rafe Judkins. Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage of iwot productions, Mike Weber and Ted Field of Radar Pictures, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe, and Uta Briesewitz will also serve as executive producers, with Briesewitz set to direct the first two episodes. Rosamund Pike will serve as producer and Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson as consulting producers. The Wheel of Time is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television.”

New episodes of The Wheel of Time airs every Friday on Amazon Prime. The season finale airs this week.