LOS ANGELES: Netflix for the first time published detailed viewing figures about thousands of its shows and movies on Wednesday, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the world-leading streaming platform´s top hits and highest-profile flops.
The report, which Netflix says will be repeated every six months, is a major departure for a company that has historically guarded its data closely, but came under renewed pressure to be more transparent during strikes this year by Hollywood writers´ and actors´ unions.
“This is a big step forward for Netflix and our industry,” the company said in a press release.
“We believe the viewing information in this report... will give creators and our industry deeper insights into our audiences, and what resonates with them.”
Since 2021, Netflix has released weekly Top 10 lists, and a regularly updated “most popular” leaderboard based on views within a title´s first 91 days on the platform.
But the biannual new publication, entitled “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report,” goes further.
A new spreadsheet contains data for all shows that were watched by Netflix users for more than 50,000 hours -- that is 18,000 titles in total, representing 99 percent of all viewing on Netflix.
The data only covers the period of January to June 2023, meaning that films and series released during that time fared better.
Topping the chart was season one of “The Night Agent,” a US action-thriller that debuted in March, drawing more than 812 million hours watched globally.