In 2021, Netflix introduced a new feature called the Top 10, a webpage that provides information about the most-watched movies and series. They calculated the total hours people watched a show or movie in the past, but they changed their approach. Now, they consider both the hours watched and the content length to estimate how often a title has been viewed.
This new method has led to changes in the popularity rankings. The series “Wednesday,” starring Jenna Ortega, has become even more popular than “Stranger Things,” previously the most-watched English-language series. “Wednesday” has been viewed over 252 million times, while the latest “Stranger Things” season was watched over 140 million times.
Despite the new system, the Korean series “Squid Game” remains the most-watched show on Netflix with more than 265 million views. It’s also the most-watched non-English language series. Following that is the fourth season of the Spanish series “Money Heist,” which has accumulated 106 million views.
This new measurement system will also measure a show’s popularity during the first 91 days after its release instead of just the initial 28 days. This 91-day period equals 13 weeks, roughly a full quarter of a year.
Even though Netflix is now counting views, how they measure viewership isn’t just about how often subscribers start watching a show or movie or finish watching it. Instead, Netflix calculates a show’s popularity by dividing the total hours watched by the length of the content. This gives them an estimate of the number of people who might have started and completed the title.
Netflix wants to be transparent and open about what people are watching. They hope that by doing this, they can give viewers, creators, analysts, and the media a better understanding of what’s popular on their platform. They plan to share more detailed data about each title with the creators. They’re also open to feedback from their audience.
Here’s how the new lists of Netflix’s most-watched shows and movies are structured now:
Netflix’s Most-Watched Shows and Movies
English Speaking Series
- Wednesday (252,100,000 views)
- Stranger Things – Season 4 (140,700,000 views)
- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (115,600,000 views)
- The Bridgertons – Season 1 (113,300,000 views)
- Queen’s Gambit (112,800,000 views)
- The Night Agent – Season 1 (98,200,000 views)
- Stranger Things – Season 3 (94,800,000 views)
- The Bridgertons – Season 2 (93,800,000 views)
- The Witcher – Season 1 (83,000,000 views)
- Watchman – Season 1 (79,600,000 views)
Non-English Speaking Series
- The Squid Game – Season 1 (265,200,000 views)
- Money Heist – Season 4 (106,000,000 views)
- Lupine – Season 1 (99,500,000 views)
- Money Heist – Season 5 (99,200,000 views)
- Money Heist – Season 3 (80,000,000 views)
- Lupine – Season 2 (68,400,000 views)
- Who killed Sarah? – Season 3 (58,400,000 views)
- We Are Dead – Season 1 (55,500,000 views)
- Elite – Season 3 (50,000,000 views)
- Elite – Season 4 (46,300,000 views)
English Language Movies
- Red alert (230,000,000 views)
- Don’t look up (171,400,000 views)
- The Adam project (157,600,000 views)
- Blind (157,400,000 views)
- The Invisible Agent (139,300,000 views)
- We Can Be Heroes(137,300,000 views)
- Daggers in the Back: The Glass Onion Mystery (137,300,000 views)
- Tyler Rake (135,700,000 views)
- Spenser: Confidential (129,100,000 views)
- Wounded Hearts (127,200,000 views)
Non-english Language Movies
- Troll (103,000,000 views)
- The hole (82,800,000 views)
- Through my window (61,100,000 views)
- Blood red sky (60,900,000 views)
- Alias (56,600,000 views)
- My name is Vengeance (56,400,000 views)
- Black crab (53,900,000 views)
- No news on the front (52,100,000 views)
- Bajocero (48,600,000 views)
- Love for adults (47,300,000 views)
