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Netflix’s Biggest Hit Shows and Movies, Ranked (According to Netflix)

Netflix, for years, was notoriously tight-lipped about its viewership. But after a few years of dropping stats for some of its programming, Netflix launched a website in mid-November posting charts of its most popular shows and movies from the past week, as well as a global ranking of its all-time most watched titles.

The charts, which are updated every week and ranked by the total number of hours that subscribers spent watching them, represent an unprecedented trove of data about what’s popular on Netflix. The site details the most popular titles in the last week not only globally but also for more than 90 countries. And it’s meant to help subscribers like you get a better sense of the biggest hits on the world’s largest subscription streaming service, in the hopes you’ll discover something new to watch.

The company updates its weekly «Top 10 on Netflix» every Tuesday, based on hours viewed from Monday through Sunday the previous week for original and licensed titles. The rankings are broken down into top 10 charts for films in English, TV in English, films in non-English languages and TV in non-English languages.

A ranking of all-time most watched titles also lives on the site, detailing shows that have the most viewing hours in their first 28 days of release. If a new season releases its episodes in two parts on different dates, Netflix counts the watch time of the first volume’s episodes for their first 28 days, then it counts the watch time of the second volume’s episodes for their first 28 days. These all-time rankings are also updated every Tuesday, whenever any programs make it into the charts during the week prior.

Why you won’t see From Scratch or Inside Man in the rankings

Shows and movies need sustained popularity in many countries to crack into the all-time most watched charts. That means you can see titles ranked in Netflix’s app for days as being among the service’s most popular in your country, but they still may not be generating enough hours of viewing to make the all-time rankings.

From Scratch, a romantic limited series starring Zoe Saldaña, has pulled in nearly 155 million hours of watch-time since it came out Oct. 21, through Sunday. Inside Man, a British thriller limited series that’s already aired on regular TV in the UK, racked up 52.9 million hours in just seven days. And both have more time in their 28-day windows to generate watch-time that could get them into the rankings. But TV series need nearly half a billion hours watched to make it onto the all-time list, and even the most popular shows and movies need multiple weeks to accumulate enough.

Netflix’s most watched TV series, ranked

The following are Netflix’s most watched series, based on Netflix’s own reporting of total hours viewed in the first 28 days of each titles’ release. Again, if a new season releases its episodes in two volumes on different dates, Netflix counts the watch time of the first volume’s episodes for their first 28 days, then it counts the watch time of the second volume’s episodes for their first 28 days.

Any changes in the rankings from the previous week are in bold text.

  1. Squid Game (season 1), a Korean survival thriller — 1.65 billion hours.
  2. Stranger Things (season 4), a retro sci-fi series — 1.35 billion hours.
  3. Dahmer, a true-crime serial killer series — 856.2 million hours.
  4. Money Heist (part 5), a Spanish-language thriller — 792.2 million hours.
  5. Bridgerton (season 2), a period romance — 656.3 million hours.
  6. Bridgerton (season 1) — 625.5 million hours.
  7. Money Heist (part 4) — 619 million hours.
  8. Stranger Things (season 3), a retro sci-fi series — 582.1 million hours.
  9. Lucifer (season 5), a fantasy police procedural — 569.5 million hours.
  10. All of Us Are Dead, a Korean zombie thriller taking place in a high school — 560.8 million hours.
  11. The Witcher (season 1), a fantasy show — 541 million hours.
  12. Inventing Anna, a true-crime limited series about a fake socialite — 511.9 million hours
  13. 13 Reasons Why (season 2), a controversial teen drama — 496.1 million hours.
  14. Ozark (season 4), a crime drama series — 491.1 million hours.

Former top-ranking shows that have been bumped out of Netflix’s official all-time charts:

Netflix’s most watched movies, ranked

The following are Netflix’s most watched movies, based on Netflix’s own reporting of total hours viewed in the first 28 days of each titles’ release. Any changes are in bold text.

  1. Red Notice, an action movie starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds — 364 million hours.
  2. Don’t Look Up, a dark comedy with a star-packed cast — 359.8 million hours.
  3. Bird Box, a post-apocalyptic movie starring Sandra Bullock — 282 million hours.
  4. The Gray Man, a CIA action thriller — 253.9 million hours.
  5. The Adam Project, a sci-fi adventure comedy — 233.2 million hours.
  6. Extraction, an action movie starring Chris Hemsworth — 231.3 million hours.
  7. Purple Hearts, a romantic drama about a musician marrying a Marine — 228.7 million hours.
  8. The Unforgivable, a drama about a woman rebuilding her life after prison — 214.7 million hours.
  9. The Irishman, a period Mafia epic directed by Martin Scorsese— 214.6 million hours.
  10. The Kissing Booth 2, a teen rom-com sequel — 209.3 million hours.

Former top-ranking movies that have been bumped out of Netflix’s official all-time charts:

Netflix appears to have never released a non-English-language film that generated enough viewing hours to make it into an overall top-watched ranking. But additional widely watched non-English language movies on Netflix have included:

Former top-ranking non-English movies that have been bumped out of the non-English top 10 include:

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