BREAKING: Netflix Reveals Viewership Data for 99% of Its Catalog in First for Streaming Transparency
Streamers are usually loathe to reveal such detailed numbers about their catalogs, but Netflix made a big swing in the other direction this week.
The quest for streaming data just got a little easier, thanks to the world’s largest streaming service. On Tuesday, Netflix unveiled a bombshell report offering viewership data for the vast majority of its streaming titles, in one of the largest efforts in promoting data transparency in streaming’s short history.
- Netflix’s new report details hours viewed for every title watched for more than 50,000 hours.
- The report covers a six-month period from January to June of this year.
- ‘The Night Agent’ was the top title streamed, with over 800 million hours viewed globally.
What Was Netflix’s Top Title Streamed in 2023?
Netflix’s report includes viewership data for more than 18,000 titles. It covers 99% of all viewing on Netflix between January and June of 2023, in every territory in which the service is available. It offers hours viewed for every title — original and licensed — watched for over 50,000 hours in that timeframe. In a blog post, Netflix says it will release similar reports semi-annually from here on out.
The new report from Netflix shows that its spy/thriller series “The Night Agent” was the top title streamed in the first half of 2023. It accrued 812,100,000 hours of viewing time globally, and accrued 147 million more hours streamed than the second-place show, Season 2 of “Ginny and Georgia.”
The former USA Network drama “Suits” has dominated headlines in 2023 thanks to its success after being licensed to Netflix in June. The report shows that its first season piled up nearly 130 million viewing hours in June, despite not landing on the service until June 17. When the next edition of the report comes out in six months, it seems likely that “Suits” will surpass the 812 million hours “The Night Agent” tallied with room to spare.
Rounding out the top five titles streamed on Netflix in the first half of the year were “The Glory” (Season 1), “Wednesday” (Season 1) and “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.” Each entrant in the top five is a Netflix original title.
Why Does It Matter that Netflix is Revealing This Data?
The decision by Netflix to reveal its viewing data for the first six months of 2023 could have massive implications for the entire streaming industry. At 247+ million global subscribers, Netflix has fair claim to the largest streaming audience in the entire world. Now, everyone in the industry can see what that audience is watching most, and extrapolate how to meld what people are responding to on Netflix with what they offer on their own streaming platforms.
It’s a huge win for everyone who analyzes the streaming industry as a whole for the same reason. Netflix’s willingness to share data could inspire other platforms to do likewise, which would give those who keep tabs on what’s going on in the industry a much more accurate picture to disseminate to the public. Having this data allows for direct comparisons between the performance of licensed content and original shows, or between new releases and library content. Subscriber numbers alone offer some insight into the health of a streaming platform, but as the past 18 months have proven subscriber numbers can hide massive financial problems at streamers as well.
In short, Netflix’s decision to make this report public is good for everyone…except potentially Netflix. It’s the same benefits that are offered by streaming top 10 lists, but on a much larger scale. The data has massive insights for those who can harness its data to improve their own streaming catalogs, and Netflix is showing supreme confidence in releasing it to the public regardless. It knows it has already accomplished feats in streaming that none of its biggest competitors can match — turning a regular profit, for example.
It remains to be seen if Netflix will start a trend in data transparency. In fact, this move could have the opposite effect at streaming services who can’t stack up to Netflix’s viewership data; why reveal another way competing streaming platforms are failing to keep up with Netflix if their executives don’t have to? But Netflix urged other streaming providers to be more transparent with their data this summer, and now it’s trying to lead by example
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.