Where does all the time go? Watching Netflix, it seems.
For the first time, Netflix released viewership data for almost all of its portfolio. The report, which represents more than 18,000 titles and covers some 100 billion viewing hours, ranked the streaming service's most-watched shows and movies for the first half of 2023.
Netflix has teased us with data before through releases of top 10 lists, but this is different. In the latest report, there's a whole bunch of information for cinephiles to sink their teeth into.
It's in stark contrast to the seemingly tight-lipped company of days gone. Netflix has been criticized in the past over a lack of transparency, which was a thorny issue in this year's strikes by Hollywood writers and actors.
However, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on Tuesday the data dump was not in direct response to the strikes. Instead, he suggested it was part of a more general shift toward increasing transparency.
That may be so, but the report will also help attract ad dollars and turn up the heat on other streamers — especially when shows like "The Night Agent" can log a mouthwatering 812 million viewing hours. The data release was, in many ways, a classic Hollywood power move.
Although the report is nearly comprehensive, it isn't without caveats. For example, by measuring total hours viewed, results are skewed toward longer movies and shows with more episodes
Perhaps I'm just bitter because none of my favorite shows made the rankings.
I just hope they didn't end up among the thousands of titles that most Netflix users don't watch.
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