David Farnor | On 04, Oct 2021

Netflix has revealed its most-watched films and TV shows to date in one of its most transparent data releases yet.

The streaming giant has become increasingly open about its viewing figures in the past year, as it positions itself as a global force to be reckoned with in the face of growing streaming competition. Of course, those figures are worth taking with a large pinch of salt. Where before, the streaming giant classed a “view” as someone watching 70 per cent of a movie or a single episode of a show, it now counts the number of accounts that choose to watch a title for “at least 2 minutes”, which it deems as “long enough to indicate the choice was intentional”, as opposed to an accidental click.

But last week, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer, divulged not only what the most-watched TV shows and films where using that metric, but also introduced another measurement of popularity: the total time spent viewing by hours within a title’s first 28 days after release, which gives an idea of audience engagement rather than just curious clicks.

Speaking at Vox Media’s Code Conference, Sarandos say that the company is “trying to be more transparent with talent, with the market”, admitting that the data is “a big black box, mostly”. The data is does reveal, though, has one clear purpose: to highlight just how big Netflix is, from its global reach to the number of accounts signing in to stream titles – at present, the company has about 209 million paid subscribers worldwide. Indeed, Sarandos claimed that Netflix is “competing with ourselves”, adding that “the thing I’m concerned with over the next decade is, can we continue to execute [at scale]” rather than worry about competition from the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max.

The top 10 series certainly highlights the scale at play, with Bridgerton the most-watched show – thanks to 82 million accounts watching it within the first 28 days of its release. That’s ahead of joint runners-up Lupin Part 1 and The Witcher Season 1 (both 76 million). However, when taking into account the rankings by hours viewed, Bridgerton’s 625 million remains number one and The Witcher and Lupin are overtaken by Money Heist Part 4 (619 million) and Stranger Things 3 (582 million).

In the top 10 films, Extraction still rules the roost with 99 million accounts watching, ahead of Bird Box on 89 million – but in terms of engagement, Bird Box comes out on top with 282 million hours viewed, compared to Extraction’s 231.

Here’s the full rundown:

10 most-watched TV shows (accounts)

Rank	Title	No of accounts (m)
1	Bridgerton Season 1	82
2	Lupin Part 1	76
3	The Witcher Season 1	76
4	Sex/Life Season 1	67
5	Stranger Things Season 3	67
6	Money Heist Part 4	65
7	Tiger King Season 1	64
8	The Queen's Gambit	62
9	Sweet Tooth Season 1	60
10	Emily in Paris Season 1	58

10 most-watched TV shows (hours viewed)

Rank	Title	Viewing hours (m)
1	Bridgerton Season 1	625
2	Money Heist Part 4	619
3	Stranger Things 3	582
4	The Witcher Season 1	541
5	13 Reasons Why Season 2	496
6	13 Reasons Why Season 1	476
7	You Season 2	457
8	Stranger Things 2	427
9	Money Heist Part 3	426
10	Ginny & Georgia Season 1	381

10 most-watched films (accounts)

Rank	Title	No of accounts (m)
1	Extraction	99
2	Bird Box	89
3	Spenser Confidential	85
4	6 Underground	83
5	Murder Mystery	83
6	The Old Guard	78
7	Enola Holmes	77
8	Project Power	75
9	Army of the Dead	75
10	Father	74

10 most-watched films (hours viewed)

Rank	Title	Viewing hours (m)
1	Bird Box	282
2	Extraction	231
3	The Irishman	215
4	The Kissing Booth 2	209
5	6 Underground	205
6	Spenser Confidential	197
7	Enola Holmes	190
8	Army of the Dead	187
9	The Old Guard	186
10	Murder Mystery	170

Add to Watchlist