In a massive data dump of sorts, streaming giant Netflix has revealed the viewership data for almost its entire global catalog, comprising upwards of 18,000 titles available for streaming on Netflix around the world.
The report, titled ‘What We Watched’, gives viewership data for the first six months of the year – from January 2023 to June 2023. The data reveal is part of Netflix’s new push for increased transparency in viewing statistics, under which Netflix will reveal viewership data twice a year, data for six months each.
In keeping with the new strategy, Netflix has just released the first edition of the viewership data for the period from January 2023 to June 2023. What We Watched is a comprehensive report of what people watched on Netflix over the six month period, as hours viewed for every title — original and licensed.
As per the new data, spy series ‘The Night Agent’ came out tops in the list, clocking the most number of hours viewed between January and June 2023, at 812 million hours. The series released in March 2023, and hence is ahead of titles such as Wednesday and Squid Game, as these released in preview years.
In a disappointing aside, Indian titles are at a distant bottom in the list. In fact, only two titles made in India have even made it into the top 500 titles on the list, let alone the top 100. Even those two are at far end of the top 500. The two titles are the much-maligned Rana Naidu at Number 336, and Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga at 401.
If nothing else, Netflix’s What We Watched report proves that Indian content creators really need to up their quality game if they want to make a mark globally.