Know Which Shows “Engaged” The Netflix Audience In 2023

Making “Netflix & Chill” a way of life, the global streaming giant has revolutionized the way audiences consume entertainment. Boasting a vast and diverse library of content, Netflix has become synonymous with binge-worthy series, blockbuster films, acclaimed documentaries and also its own original shows and movies, known as Netflix Originals.

With its commitment to innovation and a constant influx of fresh, high-quality content, Netflix continues to be a major player in the ever-evolving landscape of digital entertainment. The streaming giant released its first “Netflix Engagement Report” titled What We Watched, inclusive of more than 18,000 titles and nearly 100 billion hours viewed between January to June 2023.

It represents 99% of all viewing during that period. This is the first time Netflix divulged streaming performance metrics for licensed content. Netflix is expanding its viewership data transparency with the release of this biannual report covering six months of streaming habits on the platform. It gives a glimpse into how licensed content like USA Network drama “Suits” performs alongside the Netflix Originals.

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The Netflix Engagement Report,” includes:

1) hours viewed for every title (both Netflix original and licensed TV shows and movies) watched for more than 50,000 hours during that period;

2) the premiere date for any Netflix original TV series or film; and

3) whether a title was available globally.

Additionally, the report focuses on hours viewed versus Netflix’s new favoured way of representing its weekly Top 10 lists, which is by estimated viewers. However, Netflix says that more than 60% of its titles released between January and June 2023 appeared on their weekly Top 10 lists, so there is a large amount of crossover between titles on the report and the standing week-to-week rankings.

The Top 5

Each piece of that information is key here, because these findings aren’t as cut and dried as Netflix’s weekly Top 10 reports and “Most Popular” lists. For example, at the top of this report is “The Night Agent,” a series that debuted globally March 23 and racked up 812 million hours viewed by the end of June.

And at No. 3 is “Wednesday,” Netflix’s top English-language series of all time — not because it was a less popular series, but because it came out in November 2022, and a good chunk of its massive audience had already completed the show by the Jan. 1 start date for this report.

Over 60% of Netflix titles released between January and June 2023 appeared on our weekly Top 10 lists. So while this report is broader in scope, the trends reflected in it are very similar to those in the Top 10 lists, including: 

• The strength of returning favorites like Ginny & Georgia, Alice in Borderland, The Marked Heart, Outer Banks, You, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, XO Kitty and film sequels Murder Mystery 2 and Extraction 2;
• The popularity of new series like The Night Agent, The Diplomat, Beef, The Glory, Alpha Males, FUBAR and Fake Profile, which generate huge audiences and fandoms;
• The size of the audience of our films across every genre including The Mother, Luther: The Fallen Sun, You People, AKA, ¡Que viva México! and Hunger;
• The enthusiasm for non-English stories, which generated 30% of all viewing;
• The staying power of titles on Netflix, which extends well beyond their premieres. All Quiet on the Western Front, for example, debuted in October 2022 and generated 80M hours viewed between January and June; and
• The demand for older, licensed titles, which generates tremendous value for our members and for rights holders.

Indian Content, Represent!

The report included eight Indian titles in the top 1,000 list namely- Rana Naidu Season 1 (330) with a watch time of 46.3 million hours followed by Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (395) and Mission Majnu (593) with a watch time of 41.7 and 31.2 million hours, respectively. It was succeeded by the third season of Indian Matchmaking (609) with a watch time of 30.6 million hours.

Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway (645) came later with a watch time of 29.6 million hours. RRR (654), Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (756) and Shehzada (834) also secured spots in the top 1000 list with watch times of 29.4, 27.1 and 24.8 million hours, respectively.

“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”, Netflix said in the report.

“Moreover, 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,” it added.