According to Entertainment Weekly, Nielsen reported, for the first time, the viewership numbers from a streaming platform TV series. The series chosen was Season 2 of "Stranger Things."

The company cited an audience of 15.8 million viewers for the first episode, three days after the release. This number is close to what "This Is Us," series from NBC and one of the biggest audiences on broadcast TV, reaches 17.8 million viewers every episode.

Another surprising number is that 361.000 subscribers watched all nine episodes within the first 24 hours of the second season release.

"Stranger Things" Season 2 premiered on October 27 on Netflix.

Nielsen's new measurement system

Nilsen announced last month that came up with a new technique to measure the viewership numbers from streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.

To Brian Fuhrer, the senior vice-president of Nielsen, they will use the exact same framework and methodology that they already do for broadcast and cable networks. "You can put these Netflix and broadcast numbers right next to one another and understand the relationship," said Fuhrer to The Hollywood Reporter.

Streaming and digital platforms do not share their audience numbers. This new technique used by Nielsen marks the most significant rating data for streaming services until today.

The company is revealing the numbers to those networks and studios subscribed and after that to the public and press.

'Stranger Things'

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, the first season came out in July 2016 and soon became a success, being well reviewed by critics and public. The series was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards this year.

Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980's, the first season focuses on the investigation into the disappearance of a young boy, which has supernatural elements surrounding it. The second season deals with the characters trying to return to a normal life.

Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb Laughlin, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Kery, Charlie Heaton and Natalia Dyer are the main cast of the first season.

The second-year brought Sadie Sink, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, and Dacre Montgomery as new regulars.

The series is almost renewed, officially, for the third season. It is possible it will only air in 2019, because of the movie contracts of the cast. It takes, approximately, 15 months to do pre-production, shoot and do the visual effects.