In a nutshell: The latest season of Stranger Things was always going to be a big hit for Netflix, and now we have an idea of just how many people have watched it (to date). The entirety of season 4 has accumulated a massive 1.15 billion hours of viewing time over the first 28 days of release, making it only the second show to pass the one-billion-hours milestone. However, it isn't the most-viewed show in Netflix history, at least not yet.

The first seven episodes of volume 1 of Stranger Things season 4, which premiered on May 27, managed to rack up 930.32 million hours over their first 28 days, writes The Hollywood Reporter, while episodes 8 and 9 reached 221 million hours viewed in the week of June 27th to July 3.

Those 1.15 billion total viewing hours is a record for an English-language show on Netflix, but Stranger Things season 4 still hasn't managed to beat Squid Game. The Korean hit managed 1.65 billion hours viewed within its first 28 days of release and is the most-viewed show on the streaming site. But the 80s-set fantasy's second part only arrived on July 1, so there's still time for Stranger Things to steal the title from Squid Game.

Eddie Munson playing Metallica's Master of Puppets in the Upside Down to lure the demobats is easily one of the Top 5 coolest things I've ever seen on Stranger Things. pic.twitter.com/ii1A0By7L9

— Netflix (@netflix) July 5, 2022

We don't yet know whether the popularity of Netflix's flagship show has translated into all-important new subscribers. The service saw a decline in global subs (around 200,000) for the first time in a decade earlier this year, resulting in layoffs, canceled projects, and the confirmation of an ad-supported tier. It's also looking at clamping down on password-sharing, though initial tests of the technology haven't proved too successful.

In related news, Spotify has created The Upside Down Playlist so users can discover their personal savior song that could thwart Vecna, much like Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill did for Max.