In the past, many have criticized Netflix for its viewership stats. Many believe that the number of accounts that viewed a particular show for at least two minutes is not an accurate representation of its popularity. Instead, all the data is showing is how many people tried watching the show or movie. However, with the hours-watched metric that Netflix recently released, the streaming platform is doing something it has never done before.
What are Netflix’s most popular movies and shows?
Here are Netflix’s most popular TV shows in the first 28 days of their release:
Bridgerton, season 1 - 625 million hours Money Heist, part 4 - 619 million hours Stranger Things 3 - 582 million hours The Witcher, season 1 - 541 million hours 13 Reasons Why, season 2 - 496 million hours 13 Reasons Why, season 1 - 476 million hours You, season 2 - 457 million hours Stranger Things 2 - 427 million hours Money Heist, part 3 - 426 million hours Ginny & Georgia, season 1 - 381 million hours
On the other hand, here are Netflix’s most popular movies in the first 28 days of their release:
Bird Box - 282 million hours Extraction - 231 million hours The Irishman - 215 million hours The Kissing Booth 2 - 209 million hours 6 Underground - 205 million hours Spenser Confidential - 197 million hours Enola Holmes - 190 million hours Army of the Dead - 187 million hours The Old Guard - 186 million hours Murder Mystery - 170 million hours
Netflix’s decision to release the hours-watched metric makes for amuch more effective demonstration of the strength of Netflix Originals. For example, three Netflix Originals show up on the list at least twice: Stranger Things, 13 Reasons Why, and Money Heist. The first two are especially surprising. Both Season 2 of Stranger Things and Season 1 of 13 Reasons Why premiered back in 2017 when Netflix had several hundred million fewer subscribers than it did within the past two years. Of course, the said metric isn’t perfect. It favors movies and TV shows with longer runtimes. This is evidenced by The Irishman’s appearance on the list, which had a notoriously long 3-hour runtime. Either way, this is all good news for everyone involved. Hopefully, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos can keep true to his words at Vox Media’s Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California where explained he that Netflix is making an effort to be “more transparent” with its metrics. In other Netflix news, the streaming giant recently held its first-ever TUDUM showcase where it dropped more news about the latest season of The Witcher, Ozark Season 4, Tiger King 2, and the fourth season of Cobra Kai, among several others.
