Despite strong ratings with critics, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy failed to crack Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings for its debut during the week of January 12-18. Starfleet Academy debuted on January 15th with a two-episode premiere ("Kids These Days" and "Beta Days") on Paramount+.
According to Nielsen's latest data, the new series did not appear in the top 10 originals for the week. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was outperformed in the United States by fellow Paramount+ series Landman, which slipped from No. 2 last week to No. 3.
Netflix's His & Hers actually topped the charts with 2,224 million minutes viewed, followed by Stranger Things (Netflix, 1,912 million minutes viewed), Landman (Paramount+, 1,772 million minutes), The Pitt (HBO, 1,158 million minutes), and 11.22.63 (970 million minutes).
Netflix's Run Away rounded out the top 10 with 343 million minutes, which doesn't bode well for Starfleet Academy. For comparison, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 debuted at No. 7 last summer with 471 million viewed, which easily would've made the chart for the week of Starfleet Academy's debut. But even Strange New Worlds struggled to maintain steady viewership, dropping out of the top 10 for the remainder of its third season.
This is not to say Starfleet Academy is doomed. It took Star Trek: Discovery a week to crack the Nielsen top 10 after its Season 5 debut, so we'll have to see how Starfleet Academy fares with its first full week for the show. It's worth noting that Nielsen's weekly U.S. Streaming Top 10 charts originally did not include Paramount+ data, so we don't have data on those earlier seasons.
This thrilling new chapter follows a fresh class of cadets as they train under the watchful, demanding eyes of Starfleet’s finest. Together, they’ll face the highs and lows of academy life: forging unbreakable friendships, clashing in explosive rivalries, experiencing first loves, and stepping into their destiny as the next generation of Starfleet officers. When a mysterious new enemy threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself, these cadets must rise to the challenge or risk losing everything they’ve just begun to fight for.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy takes the franchise in a bold new direction with a younger, coming-of-age focus that hasn't quite resonated with everyone. The series centers on cadets in training, marking the first time a series has focused on students rather than officers.
It's also set in the 32nd century, the far-future era first introduced in the later seasons of Star Trek: Discovery. This has allowed showrunners to introduce new technology, politics, and species without heavy canon limits.
Starfleet Academy ultimately feels like an attempt to broaden the audience and reach younger viewers who may not watch traditional Star Trek. Not cracking the Top 10 in its first week isn't necessarily a death sentence for Starfleet Academy, especially since it has already been renewed for a second season, but what matters most is consistent viewership over the first full week. It's possible that Starfleet Academy could mirror Discovery or Strange New Worlds and gain momentum after its initial debut.