What We Watched: A Netflix engagement report
Netflix’s first large-scale release of viewing data — nearly 100 billion hours watched across 18,000 titles in early 2023 — reveals a stark power-law pattern where a handful of series and long-running back-catalog hits like “Suits,” “Friends,” and “Breaking Bad” dominate engagement. Commenters debate what this says about Netflix’s strategy of volume over prestige, the rise of Korean and other non-U.S. content, and the platform’s habit of cancelling shows, while also noting that the new transparency stems from recent WGA/SAG contract wins and may change how creators negotiate pay. Many see the numbers as evidence of both cultural fragmentation (few shared “must watch” shows) and a massive global time sink rivaling work in sheer hours.
Scale of Viewing and Power Laws
- Spreadsheet shows ~93B hours watched in Jan–Jun 2023; commenters estimate ~20M hours per clock hour, roughly 12 hours per person on Earth in six months.
- View distribution appears highly power‑law: top titles dominate, with the #1 show having roughly twice the watch time of #8.
- Distinction raised between “hours streamed” and “active, attentive watching,” plus inflation from long runtimes and rewatches.
Cultural Fragmentation vs Shared Canon
- Many readers haven’t heard of most top titles despite using Netflix, highlighting how recommendations create bubbles.
- Some lament the loss of a shared TV “fireplace” and common references; others argue niche content and online communities are a positive evolution.
- There’s debate over whether there is still a “Current Thing” (e.g., Squid Game, Game of Thrones) or whether everything is now fragmented.
Content Quality, Recommendations, and Taste
- Strong disagreement over Netflix’s move toward “quantity over quality” and “lowest common denominator” comfort viewing vs “giving customers what they want.”
- Netflix recommendations are frequently criticized as poor at surfacing genuinely good but less promoted content.
- Discussion of the shift from 5‑star ratings to like/dislike: some see it as dumbing down and optimizing for “time watched,” others as necessary UX and data simplification.
Cancellations and Trust
- Repeated frustration about popular or critically praised series being cancelled (e.g., 1899, Shadow and Bone), which pushes some viewers toward only finished or limited series.
- Some say this cancellation pattern now shapes what they choose to start watching more than the content itself.
Old Shows, Background TV, and Syndication
- Legacy series (Friends, Suits, Breaking Bad, Big Bang Theory, etc.) garner huge hours, often as “background shows.”
- This is likened to classic syndication economics; concerns raised that popularity of such comfort shows may crowd out riskier or more ambitious content.
Transparency, Strikes, and the Excel Dump
- Multiple comments tie the data release to WGA/SAG‑AFTRA negotiations on streaming transparency and residuals.
- Opinions split on the bare‑bones Excel format: some appreciate raw data; others expected richer visualizations and more metadata (episodes, runtime, regions, genres).
Subtitles, Accessibility, and Regions
- Complaints that English subtitles (as opposed to full closed captions) are often missing in English‑speaking regions, hurting comprehension and immersion.
- Regional licensing and inconsistent subtitle availability (including for Netflix originals) are a recurring annoyance.