How Netflix calculates its new daily top 10 lists of its most popular movies and TV shows
Netflix
This week, Netflix introduced daily top 10 lists of its most popular shows and movies, which will be included in new rows on the service's interface.
A person with direct knowledge of the lists confirmed to Business Insider that Netflix is using its new viewership metric to calculate them, in that a "view" counts if an account watches at least two minutes of a movie or series.
The daily lists are another way for the streaming giant to promote its original content to subscribers as the streaming war heats up.
Netflix is attempting to be a bit more transparent about what shows and movies are popular on its service.
The streaming giant announced on Monday that it will include daily top 10 lists of its most popular TV shows and movies on the service in the US starting this week (other countries will have their own top 10 lists). An overall list spanning movies and TV will appear on the Netflix homepage. Netflix said that the position of the list "will vary depending on how relevant the shows and films are to you."
The top TV show list and the top movie list will appear on those respective pages when a user clicks on the movie or TV tabs.
Netflix didn't specify in its announcement how it would calculate the daily lists, but it recently updated how it measures viewership. Netflix used to count a view if an account watched at least 70% of a movie or an episode of a TV show, but now counts a view if an account watches at least two minutes of a title. It introduced this new methodology when it revealed its most popular movies and TV shows of 2019 in late December.
A person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to Business Insider that Netflix is using the new two-minute metric to calculate the top 10 lists. The person also confirmed that the lists are updated every day at 11:30 a.m. PST and reflect the previous 24 hours. That means the list represents the titles with the highest number of accounts that watched at least two minutes the previous day.
Netflix said in its announcement that it had been testing the feature in Mexico and the UK for the last six-plus months.
Netflix has peeled the curtain back on viewership numbers in recent years, but mainly reveals selective data about the performance of some of its top TV shows and movies, and doesn't have third-party verification of its numbers. The lists are another way for Netflix to tout its original content, which is essential as more companies release their own streaming platforms and remove some of their programming from Netflix. For instance, WarnerMedia launches HBO Max in May, which will include a show formerly popular among Netflix users, "Friends."
A look at Tuesday's US lists of Netflix's most popular movies and TV shows are below:
Netflix
Netflix
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