Netflix releases first-ever engagement report
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Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic
Netflix has for the first time released an engagement report detailing viewing data for thousands of shows and movies.
Why it matters: The streaming giant has long faced criticism about transparency, and this emerged as a key issue during this year's Hollywood strikes.
- Although Netflix has since 2021 provided weekly lists of top 10 movies and TV series, this is the first time it's released such a comprehensive report, and the company plans to release the data twice a year.
- Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told reporters in a call Tuesday the "unintended consequence of not having more transparent data about our engagement was it created an atmosphere of mistrust over time with producers and creators and the press about what was happening."
Of note: The Writers Guild of America's new contract stipulates that streamers must provide data around the performance of shows.
- However, Sarandos said in response to a question about the timing of the new report's release so soon after the Hollywood writers and actors strikes had ended that this was part of "a continuum for several years" and was "not driven by anything" else.
The big picture: "What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report" features 18,000 titles, representing 99% of all content viewed on the streaming platform — recording nearly 100 billion hours viewed.
- "Over 60% of Netflix titles released between January and June 2023 appeared on our weekly Top 10 lists," per a Netflix statement accompanying the report. "So while this report is broader in scope, the trends reflected in it are very similar to those in the Top 10 lists."
By the numbers: Action-thriller "The Mother," starring Jennifer Lopez, was the most-watched movie for the first six months of this year, with 249.9 million viewing hours. Per the report, the most-watched TV shows on Netflix from January to June 2023 were:
- "The Night Agent": Season 1 (812.1 million viewing hours).
- "Ginny & Georgia": Season 2 (665.1 million viewing hours).
- "The Glory": Season 1 (Nearly 622.8 million viewing hours).
- "Wednesday": Season 1 (507.7 million viewing hours).
- "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story" (503 million viewing hours).
- "You": Season 4 (440.6 million viewing hours).
- "La Reina del Sur": Season 3 (429.6 million viewing hours).
- "Outer Banks": Season 3 (402.5 million viewing hours).
- "Ginny & Georgia": Season 1 (302.1 million viewing hours).
- "FUBAR": Season 1 (266.2 million viewing hours).
Go deeper: Netflix shares pop on earnings beat, advertising momentum
