'Stranger Things 3' has been seen by over 40 million Netflix accounts

Remember when it was a big deal that Bright racked up 11 million viewers? That's now quaint by comparison. Netflix has revealed that 40.7 million accounts have watched Stranger Things 3 in the four days since its July 4th premiere, making it the most-viewed show of any kind on the service in that time frame. And many in that audience were determined to finish the season before they returned to work -- 18.2 million have already completed the entire season.

The company treats a view as anyone having watched at least 70 percent of an episode or movie. It didn't break down the audience by region.

The view count isn't completely surprising given the sheer amount of hype involved, but it's still a major feat. Netflix broke its movie record in June, when Murder Mystery garnered nearly 30.9 million views in three days -- Stranger Things is well past that, and makes earlier TV shows seem downright modest. It took Umbrella Academy, one of Netflix's bigger series, a month to reach 45 million account views.

Yes, this is clearly about bragging rights. Netflix wants to show that it's a top dog in the streaming world, and that any misgivings about Stranger Things' performance are firmly in the past. This does demonstrate that Netflix's viewership still has room to grow, however, and that its flagship shows can be cultural events in the right circumstances.