Netflix releases total hours viewed for complete catalogue

Source: Netflix

Netflix has released data on total hours viewed across its complete content catalogue for the first time, with co-CEO Ted Sarandos claiming that the move should end mistrust about the streamer’s viewing performance.

The streaming leader has committed to publish What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report twice a year. The report will detail hours viewed for every title, whether original or licensed, that are viewed for over 50,000 hours in total, the premier date for any Netflix TV series or film and details on whether a title is available globally.

Sarandos said that higher engagement was “key in streaming” and viewing hours was the best measure of engagement.

Sarandos said that Netflix had become more transparent about viewing time over the years, especially as streaming accounted for a larger and larger share of overall viewing.

Lauren Smith, VP of content strategy, said that performance was “more nuanced” at the level of individual titles as viewing hours could reflect engagement in particular territories or among particular audiences, and viewing hours had to be considered in the context of the economics of particular shows.

Other caveats include the need to contextualise hours viewed against the run-time of series and movies and when they are released in the reporting cycle. The ‘most popular’ lists released by Netflix divide hours viewed by runtime, providing a better measure for comparisons, she said.

Netflix said that over 60% of Netflix titles released between January and June 2023 appeared on its weekly Top 10 lists already, and that the comprehensive report, while broader in scope, reflected the same trends revealed in the top 10 data.

In the first report, which revealed hours viewed from January to June 2023, The Night Agent seasons 1 and 2 topped the list, with over 802 million hours and 665 million hours viewed respectively, followed by The Glory season 1, Wednesday season 1 and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.

The top 10 was rounded out by You season 4, La Reina del Sur season 3, Outer Banks season 3, Ginny & Georgia season 1 and FUBAR season 1.

Members watch over six different genres a month. Smith said that non-English series accounted for 30% of viewing, while 45% of viewing of English language titles was through subtitles or dubbing.

Some 55% of viewing was from Netflix films and series compared with 45% from licensed content.

Ending ‘mistrust’

Sarandos said the report was not intended for advertisers, who relied on third party data about viewing, but was intended to give more transparency in an era when there was more scope to compare viewing with other streaming services rather than just with broadcast TV.

He said lack of data in the past “created an atmosphere of mistrust” in the past.

“This is on the continuum of transparency as streaming becomes more and more mainstream,” he said.

Sarandos said that providing more information like this was not a response to events including demands for transparency from the actors’ and writers’ unions during the recent strikes, when striking actors demanded royalties based on performance from streamers in line with how they had been recompensed by TV networks, but that it would “create a better atmosphere for the guilds, for us, for the producers and for the press”.

Sarandos said that Netflix’s top 10s were a good reflection of performance of titles in specific territories and over the time of their release. However, he said, this report “was a good reflection of the success of our shows” including how they impact on popular culture. He said Netflix did not intend to provide per-country data because this would provide a wealth of data that could be used by competitors.