What We Spent 812 Million Hours Watching on Netflix in 2023

In the most shocking turn of events, the widescale streaming media company in the world, Netflix, has for the first time published its viewing rates. And yes, just as you imagined, the numbers are out of this world.

Topping the list of shows with the highest viewing is The Night Agent. The thriller which was created by Shawn Ryan based on the novel by Matthew Quirk gained an 812-million-hour viewership in the first half of 2023.

Away from the political-themed series, season 2 of Ginny & Georgia, a comedy-drama also amassed a viewership of 665 million hours, placing second on the list. The hyped Korean drama, The Glory got  622 million hours of view time as the Addams family spin-off Wednesday followed with 507 million hours.

In a document titled “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report”, the streaming platform detailed how the success rates of the movies were quantified.

“Success on Netflix comes in all shapes and sizes and is not determined by hours viewed alone. We have enormously successful movies and TV shows with both lower and higher hours viewed. It’s all about whether a movie or TV show thrilled its audience — and the size of that audience relative to the economics of the title,” the company wrote.

The Netflix data report is believed to be a response to the Hollywood strikes which saw actors and creators unhappy with the secrecy surrounding the progress of their works on the streaming platform.

In a report by Euronews, the co-chief executive of Netflix, Ted Sarandos disclosed through a press conference call that the secrecy around the company’s viewership was to keep its competitors in check. He, however, acknowledged that creators had lost trust.

Netflix in a blog post explained the intentions behind the viewership data report “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 company wrote.