Netflix has provided more information about what people are watching on its platform, releasing viewer data for 99% of its catalogue.
The streamer this week published its first What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report, which covers the first six months of 2023. Netflix said the report will be released twice a year.
The report reveals hours viewed for every title — original and licensed — watched for over 50,000 hours on Netflix.
In total, the report covers more than 18,000 titles and nearly 100 billion hours viewed.
Users around the world watched The Night Agent for 812m hours, making the political action thriller its most viewed show in the first half of this year. Ginny & Georgia: Season 2 was the next most popular title over the period with 665m hours of viewing, followed by Korean drama The Glory (623m hours).
The Mother, starring Jennifer Lopez, was the streaming service’s top movie.
Netflix said the report showed the strength of returning favourites like Ginny & Georgia, Alice in Borderland, The Marked Heart, Outer Banks, You, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, XO Kitty and film sequels Murder Mystery 2 and Extraction 2.
It also cited the popularity of new series like The Night Agent, The Diplomat, Beef, The Glory, Alpha Males, FUBAR and Fake Profile.
Among other trends, it said that non-English stories generated 30% of all viewing.
In a statement, Netflix said: “This is a big step forward for Netflix and our industry. We believe the viewing information in this report — combined with our weekly Top 10 and Most Popular lists — will give creators and our industry deeper insights into our audiences, and what resonates with them.”
The release of the report comes after many years of criticism of Netflix and other streamers for a lack of transparency about viewing data.
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