Weirdly, none of this matters to Virgin River, whose success is defiant and speaks to the right kind of fans for Netflix, if they can capitalize on the dynamic further. That stat is dwarfed by Stranger Things season 4 finale generating a record-breaking 7.2 billion streamed minutes, but the mismatch in reporting around the two achievements, considering anything in the billions is astonishing is eye-opening. In contrast, during the week of Loki's finale release on Disney+, the first 3 seasons of Virgin River pulled in 2.1 billion minutes watched according to Nielsen stats. It's clear that Virgin River is fighting a battle to be considered alongside Stranger Things, even if fans don't need the marketing push or the celebration. When Stranger Things season 4 passed a billion hours viewed, the news was everywhere, because Netflix released the information in celebration. There is no Virgin River Day, no panel dedicated during Geeked Week, no prime focus in TUDUM! Both are hugely popular, both are four seasons deep, but they're not treated the same. While there are 111 search results for Stranger Things on Netflix's press site, Virgin River pulls back only 9 (and just 3 mention it in the title). And Virgin River's success is all the more impressive because both of those shows weren't just hoped to hit the top, they were expected to. Whenever it is quietly released, Virgin River hits the top of the Netflix chart immediately, with season 4 dethroning both Stranger Things and Resident Evil - shows with comparatively massive marketing power behind them.
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