Netflix finally pulled back the curtain on viewership data for its expansive streaming options — with thriller “The Night Agent” taking the top spot.
The streaming giant, which has been criticized for its lack of transparency about how movies and shows perform, said subscribers spent 812 million hours — the equivalent of nearly 100,000 years — watching the 10-episode FBI drama starring Gabriel Basso.
Rounding out the top five shows were “Ginny & Georgia: Season 2,” which garnered 665.1 million hours, followed by “The Glory” (662.8 million); the “Addams Family” spinoff “Wednesday” (507.7 million), and “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” (503 million) .
“The Mother,” starring Jennifer Lopez, was the streaming service’s top movie with 249.9 million hours, and was ranked 14 of most-viewed content.
The data was released Tuesday following grueling strikes by Hollywood writers and actors, which crippled the movie and television industries.
The unions’ big gripes was the lack of clarity on viewership, which is tied to their members’ compensation. Actors and writers have been demanding higher royalties for shows that performed well on streaming services.
“This is a big step forward for Netflix and our industry,” the company said in a blog post.
“We believe the viewing information in this report… will give creators and our industry deeper insights into our audiences, and what resonates with them,” it added.
The report, dubbed “What We Watched,” ranked almost all of Netflix’s shows and movies by amount of hours viewed over the past six months.
Netflix co-chief executive officer Ted Sarandos said the streamer, which is known for hits like “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game,” will release updated reports every six months.
“This is the actual data that we use to run the business,” Sarandos said on a call Tuesday. “I’m the co-CEO of a public company, so sharing bad information has consequences.”
“This is probably more information than you need, but I think it creates a better environment for the guilds, for us, for the producers, for creators and for the press,” he added.
The report, which looked at viewership between January and June, showed that 55% of Netflix viewing came from original films and series while 45% came from licensed titles, Sarandos noted.
Netflix said the report used data for more than 18,000 titles, accounting for 99% of all its viewing and all titles watched more than 50,000 hours.