The Australian kids’ cartoon Bluey is breaking viewership records across the globe. According to the latest Nielsen Media Research data, it has become the most-watched show of the year so far in the United States.
Daley Pearson, Bluey’s executive producer, director, and co-founder of Queensland-based Ludo Studio, expressed excitement over the show’s success.
“Bluey is now the No.1 most-watched show (of all shows) in the United States of America for 2024. How incredible,” he posted on social media.
Going by the data, the adventures of Bluey, the Aussie cattle dog, have accumulated 35 billion minutes of watch time in 2024 alone.
The U.S. Embassy in Australia also celebrated the show’s success, commenting, “A huge congratulations to Team Bluey—you’re responsible for lots of little Aussie accents and kids saying ‘dunny’ all across the U.S.”
In 2023, Bluey was the second-most-streamed TV show in the United States, according to Nielsen ratings.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has also commented on Bluey’s remarkable success, calling it a matter of “national pride.”
“For a country best known for low-grade soap operas, which relies on exports of commodities like iron ore, red meat, and coal for its economic resilience, the global success of the cartoon is a source of national pride,” he said.
In an interesting comparison from 2023, Australia’s men’s cricket team won the World Test Championship in June, yet their triumph was overshadowed by Bluey’s episode “Cricket.”
The episode, featuring a puppy named Rusty, attracted 563,000 viewers, surpassing the cricket game’s peak audience of 524,000.
Bluey’s global rise has surprised many in the animation industry, particularly given its dominance over major comic book and CGI franchises.
Over the years, Bluey has earned numerous awards both at home and abroad.
The series won Best Children’s Program at the 2024 Logie Awards.
Joff Bush, the main composer for the cartoon, won two categories at the 2024 Queensland Music Awards and even broke a 15-year winning streak by composer Neil Sutherland, collecting the Most Performed Screen Composer (Overseas) at the 2023 APRA Screen Music Awards.
The show’s success has also crossed over into mainstream record sales. In January 2021, Bluey The Album became the first Australian children’s album to top the ARIA Albums Chart when it debuted at the summit.
Earlier, in 2020, Bluey won the International Emmy Kids Award for Best Preschool Program, marking Ludo Studio’s third Emmy.
