In a bid to enhance data transparency, Netflix has released its first comprehensive viewership data report, offering insights into the most popular movies and shows on the streaming platform. The report spans 18,214 titles available on Netflix, each accumulating over 50,000 hours of watch time over a six-month period from January to June.
While Netflix already provides a monthly Top 10 list, this detailed report delves into a more extensive timeframe, highlighting three key aspects for each title: global availability, release date, and hours viewed. Topping the list is the Gabriel Basso-led series “The Night Agent,” amassing an impressive 812.1 million hours of watch time. The show narrates the story of a low-level FBI agent entangled in a major government conspiracy.
Following closely is the second season of “Ginny & Georgia” with 665.1 million hours, and the South Korean thriller “Glory” securing the third spot with 622.8 million hours viewed. “Wednesday,” the global phenomenon inspired by the infamous Addams Family, claims the fourth position with 507.7 million hours, even surpassing the highly anticipated “Stranger Things 4” at the time of its release. Rounding off the top five is “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” with 503 million hours viewed.
It’s essential to note that Netflix curated this list based on total hours viewed, diverging from the formula used to calculate ‘views’ for the monthly Top 10s, where the company would divide hours viewed by the runtime to determine the total number of views.
Netflix plans to publish such comprehensive reports twice a year, with the next one detailing the most in-demand titles from July to December. These reports, available to the public via a downloadable spreadsheet, aim to provide deeper insights for creators and the industry into audience preferences.
While Netflix originals dominate much of the list, the Indian series “Rana Naidu” season 1 stands out as the sole Indian entry among the top 400, accumulating 46.3 million hours of view time. The move towards greater transparency in sharing streaming data comes as part of broader industry shifts, with Hollywood labor strikes prompting a demand for more openness in disclosing viewership numbers. Despite the recent timing aligning with these industry developments, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos asserts that the streamer had always intended to be more transparent with its creators, acknowledging the historical atmosphere of mistrust due to a lack of transparent engagement data.
