Netflix Reveals Viewer Stats For The First Time, Check Out Most Watched Shows

In a surprising move, Netflix has broken with its tradition of secrecy and shared specific viewing numbers for its most popular shows.

The streaming giant disclosed that viewers consumed a staggering 92 billion hours, equivalent to almost 11,000 years of content, in the first six months of the year. Moreover, over 30% of Netflix's most-watched content was released either in 2022 or 2023, signaling a strong preference for recent releases.

Netflix's own production, "The Night Agent," claimed the top spot with an impressive 812 million hours viewed, followed closely by "Ginny & Georgia: Season 2" at 665 million hours. The platform reported a total of 18,129 shows achieving over 50,000 hours of total viewing, showcasing the immense variety available to its global audience.

To provide even more transparency, Netflix shared a comprehensive list of its top 10 most-viewed shows for the first half of 2023:

1. The Night Agent: Season 1 (812 million hours)
2. Ginny & Georgia: Season 2 (665 million hours)
3. The Glory: Season 1 (622 million hours)
4. Wednesday: Season 1 (508 million hours)
5. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (503 million hours)
6. You: Season 4 (441 million hours)
7. La Reina del Sur: Season 3 (430 million hours)
8. Outer Banks: Season 3 (403 million hours)
9. Ginny & Georgia: Season 1 (302 million hours)
10. FUBAR: Season 1 (266 million hours)

The sheer volume of viewing hours, approximately 93.5 billion, underscores the immense popularity of Netflix. This extensive viewership is equivalent to 3.89 billion days, 129.8 million months, or a remarkable 10.82 million years.

The data also revealed that viewers tend to favor more recent content, with approximately one-third of viewing hours dedicated to shows released in 2022 and 2023. This trend becomes even more apparent when examining the top 100 shows by viewing hours, as nearly all of them were released in the same period. 

Language-wise, English dominates, constituting 83.11% of the shows, followed by Korean (8.41%) and Japanese (3.91%). Notably, Netflix reports that 30% of all viewing occurs in non-English languages.

Additionally, the majority of Netflix shows are not available globally, with over 13,000 shows restricted to specific regions. 

Romance, drama, and action emerge as the dominant genres, though a substantial portion falls into the "other" category, defying easy categorization.

This unprecedented move towards transparency won't be a one-time event. Netflix has committed to publishing similar data twice a year from now on.