For the first time ever, Netflix has released an engagement report, which lists the hours that each of its more than 18,000 titles were streamed during the first half of 2023. The top titles streamed globally this past January through June are The Night Agent, Ginny & Georgia (season 2), The Glory, Wednesday, Queen Charlotte, and You (season 4). Other notable streamers within the top 20 include telenovela La Reina del Sur, Outer Banks (season 3), Love is Blind (season 4), Firefly Lane (season 2), Luther: The Fallen Sun, and Manifest (season 4). That last title surprised me because I honestly thought Dustin at Pajiba was the only person in the world still watching it, lol. Non-English stories accounted for 30% of all viewing.
Netflix has released its first-ever engagement report, providing more viewership data transparency than ever before. Among the streaming platform’s most popular shows are global hits, teen shows and female-fronted stories.
The FBI thriller “The Night Agent,” the first two seasons of “Ginny & Georgia,” Korean drama “The Glory,” Jenna Ortega’s “Wednesday,” “Bridgerton” spinoff “Queen Charlotte,” the fourth season of Penn Badgley’s “You,” the third season of Spanish telenovela “La Reina del Sur,” the third season of “Outer Banks” and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “FUBAR” rank as the ten most-viewed shows or movies on Netflix from January to June 2023, according to the streamer.
The top 100 – among more than 18,000 titles available on Netflix – includes the fourth season of “Manifest,” the second season of “Firefly Lane,” Jennifer Lopez’s thriller “The Mother,” Eddie Murphy’s “You People,” both seasons of the now-cancelled “Sex/Life,” reality shows including “Perfect Match” and the fourth season of “Love Is Blind” and award season breakouts “The Diplomat” and “Beef.”
Netflix has historically been highly selective about revealing audience viewing habits, highlighting high-performing content in “Top 10” lists or “Most Popular” lists in lieu of more robust consumption figures. The newly released data publicly discloses the least-watched shows and movies for the first time.
According to Netflix, non-English language programming like “The Snow Girl” (Spain), “The Empress” (Germany) and “Fauda” (Israel) comprised 30% of viewers’ most-watched content. Original series and films accounted for 55% of viewing time, while 45% was licensed content – like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Suits,” both of which have found new audiences on the platform.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but I’m surprised at some of the results. I’ve only seen a handful of the shows in the top 100 and out of the top 10, I’ve only seen Wednesday! I wonder if that will change when the second half comes out. Honestly, my biggest takeaway here is that I really don’t watch Netflix as much as I think I do. This list has reminded me of some movies and shows that I want to watch, but with streaming services raising prices nonstop, I think it may also be helping me put it in the “cancel” column on list of discretionary expenses. Not until I’ve finally watched Better Call Saul, of course.
And, because I know some of you are probably wondering, Suits placed 67th in the rankings, which, again, only show data from January through June 2023. It didn’t really take off until the summertime. Netflix says it’s going to release the viewer data for July through December 2023 sometime in the new year, which makes sense since technically, they’re still counting what we’re streaming up until 11:59 p.m. on the 31st. I’m guessing Suits is going to be at the top of that list. If you’d like to see the full list, you can download a full spreadsheet of it here.
Photos courtesy of Netflix Press
I’m stoked they released this- it’s fascinating. Really unexpected, it seems so… normal. Like not full of the most expensive or most hyped, a good highbrow/ lowbrow mix. 30% non-English is cool.
It’s refreshing because I feel like I get depressed about movies and tv only being made now with existing IP (adaptions), so the amount of original stuff is cool.
PSA: Ginny and Georgia is really great! Just a super fun, original watch.
The glory was fantastic, straight to my top 10 of all time tv shows.
The Glory managed to mix some distinctive Korean cultural elements with a more universal theme (bullying) in a very compelling way. Korean shows take you on wild ride emotionally but typically end well, so you’re OK going through misery with their main protagonists, they usually end up on top 🙂
Both seasons of Ginny & Georgia were fun, totally enjoyable! I would love to recast the role of young Georgia with Gus Birney from Shining Vale…
Is the Night Agent any good? I had never heard of it before this list was released and am surprised is leads the way by such a hefty margin.
I really enjoyed watching it. In fact, I watched it again just last month.
For me, it was forgettable. In fact, I can’t even remember if I finished it. As a Canadian production, it got some pretty big things wrong about how the US government functions which led to some obvious plot holes.
I enjoyed The Recruit on Prime much more than The Night Agent.
The Night Agent, The Diplomat, and FUBAR are fan-freaking-tastic! I really recommend you watch them when you have the time. The Glory was good too. Now looking to watch another Korean drama.
I can’t wait for Season 2 of The Diplomat! I’ve watched Season 1 twice already and may watch again soon.
I watched the night agent. It is not good…at all.
Yeah same, I thought it was mediocre on every level. BUT…Mr Glamarazzi watched every episode. Kind of a wallpaper show that runs in the background to keep you company,
It had the same energy as a Hallmark movie, if the hero was a handsome and heroic FBI agent tasked with protecting our plucky heroine from mysterious (yet not very threatening) rogue government forces. Great if you are half asleep on the couch from too much cold medicine, otherwise not so much.
Also, Night agent?? How have i missed this, never even heard about it and i watch way too much netflix… Maybe it wasnt a big hit in my country? (Finland)
Is it worth a watch?
It’s ok. You will not think about it again after you finished it. It’s a protect the witness and solve the mystery action story. If you like those the Bodyguard series with Robb Stark is much better.
ETA – I can’t believe I still call him that! He’s name is Richard Madden.
The article I read said that Suits had been streaming in the rest of the world for a while, so the worldwide numbers are fairly low. It only recently started in the US, which is where the summer buzz built up.
I think some of this is to let them reshape their programming and get away from some of the really pricy stuff they’ve been doing. Also that Go woke, go broke isn’t a thing. Stuff not aimed at white American men is what’s popular.
This is true. I was re-watching Suits in 2021 when I was spending the holidays in Latin America. Over there, it’s called “La Ley de los Audaces.” Was still showing over there on Netflix in the winter of 2022.
I thought I’d only seen Wednesday off this list until I saw the pic of the guy from The Night Agent lol. It was terrible and I forgot I’d half watched it while scrolling on the couch. I would get rid of Netflix but their kids programming is pretty awesome. They have a ton of amazingly weird little animated shows plus a vast treasure trove of Pokemon content.
Jeebus all a bunch of lifetime movie fluff. It’s depressing that they’ll continue to churn out predictable stories.
I doubt suits is going to top any lists…it’s an old show. But surprised not to see the Megan and harry doc on there. Seemed like everyone was talking about it
It did very well for a documentary but films and tv shows always do better than documentaries on Netflix,
Harry & Megan came out in 2022. I’m guessing a lot of people watched it when it came out, and not much after the holidays. Curious to see what this would look monthly.
Honestly, this list isn’t accurate. We had a movie release a few months ago on Netflix – definitely NOT in the first half of 2023 – and it’s on the list with viewer hours listed. Their metrics still aren’t correct.
Also I barely made it through the night agent. Didn’t understand all the rave reviews
Ew, this is *so* far from surprising. They’ve been canceling fan favorites to everyone’s utter confusion, so now they’re cooking their own books just to calm everyone down?? Of course, and no one can stop them. Foul.
After many years (since the DVD era!), I finally cancelled my Netflix a few of months ago. British Bake Off and House of Usher have been the only things I’ve missed. I really was barely watching it.
Oh I love Manifest and so do friends! Such an amazing show and sometimes we rewatch it!
Not to be rude but why would anyone watch Suits rn? That show is ancient and the clothes, writing etc were nothing worth goin’ back to. Only for basic Bs ya know?
Anyhoo Happy Holidays — I’m off to my holiday girls trip so no time to watch TV!