Bela Bajaria Chief Content Officer at Netflix | Official website
Today, Netflix published its second edition of "What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report," capturing viewership data from July to December 2023. The report covers 99% of all viewing on the platform.
Since the first report, Netflix has made improvements by adding runtime and views (total hours viewed divided by runtime) and separating films and series. This mirrors their weekly Top 10 and Most Popular lists. Over 85% of new titles in this report also appeared on these weekly lists.
The report highlights several key points:
**Staying Power of Netflix Stories:**
Older seasons continue to attract audiences, especially when a new season premieres. For instance, the first three parts of "Lupin" generated nearly 100 million views in the second half of 2023, while "Cocomelon" saw nearly 200 million views across its eight seasons. Other popular titles included "The Witcher" (76M), "Virgin River" (69M), "The Crown" (50M), "Sweet Magnolias" (35M), "Top Boy" (26M), "Heartstopper" (24M), "Sintonia" (20M), and "Sweet Home" (17M).
Fan favorites like "Wednesday" (98M), "Red Notice" (62M), and "Squid Game" (25M) continued to draw millions of views long after their premieres.
**New Adaptations Drive Viewership:**
The live-action TV show adaptation of “One Piece” garnered 72 million views, more than doubling the viewing figures for the anime film and series. Additionally, “Squid Game: The Challenge” increased viewership for “Squid Game” by 34%, three years after its premiere.
**Global Storytelling Strength:**
Non-English shows and movies accounted for nearly a third of all viewing. Korean stories captured 9% of viewing, Spanish stories took up 7%, and Japanese stories made up 5%. Notable non-English titles included “Dear Child” from Germany with 53 million views, “Forgotten Love” from Poland with 43 million views, “Pact of Silence” from Mexico with 21 million views, “Mask Girl” from Korea with 19 million views, “Yu Yu Hakusho” from Japan with 17 million views, “Berlin” from Spain with 11 million views, and “The Railway Men” from India also with 11 million views.
**Audience Size and Engagement Depth:**
In total, people watched 90 billion hours of Netflix in the second half of 2023. Key films such as “Leave the World Behind,” which generated121 million views despite premiering late in the period; Leo,” which amassed96millionviewsandbecametheplatform’sbiggestanimatedfilmtodate;and“Nowhere,”whichgarnered86millionviews,madeasignificantimpactontheviewingfigures.
**Variety and Diversity in Content:**
Netflix's most-watched titles spanned various genres including drama,kids' content,andcomedy.Sportscontentalsosawagrowthinpopularitywithtitleslike“BECKHAM”(44millionviews),"Untold: Johnny Football"(14millionviews),"Quarterback"(13millionviews).RealityTVshowslike“IsItCake?”(21millionviews),"LoveisBlind"(20millionviews),"TheUltimatum:MarryorMoveOn"(12millionviews)alsoenjoyedhighengagement.Kidsandfamilycontentrepresented15%ofallviewingwithtitleslike“Gabby’sDollhouse”(90millionviews),"FamilySwitch"(62millionviews),"TheMonkeyKing"(43millions).
Licensed content remained popular as well; notable mentions include series like Young Sheldon generating88millionviews,Grey’s Anatomy(51MillionViews),"GossipGirl"(49MillionViews)andGilmoreGirls(45MillionViews).Suitsalonehad144MillionViewsoveritsnineseasonsinthesecondhalfof2023.
This comprehensive report aims to provide creators and industry stakeholders better insights into global audience preferences.
