Netflix will shift to reporting on hours viewed to rank its most popular shows and movies on the streaming service.
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The company ranked titles based on completion of at least the first two minutes of watching a show or a movie in the first 28 days of its service. However, it has also rolled out rankings based on the total number of hours a series is watched.
In a letter to the shareholders, Netflix said it will move to reporting on hours for its titles later this year rather than the number of accounts that choose to watch them. It also posted rankings based on the current and the proposed new method. Both measures of rankings showed a significant difference in where the top 10 shows are ranked.
“We think engagement as measured by hours viewed is a slightly better indicator of the overall success of our titles and member satisfaction,” Netflix said. The new metric will also give proper credit to rewatching, it added.
Netflix will release the titles metrics regularly, outside of its earnings report as well.
The streaming giant had a good quarter on the back of the massive success of the new Korean drama, Squid Game. Calling the TV show its biggest ever, Netflix said 142 million member households globally have chosen to watch the title in its first four weeks. The show has been ranked as the #1 program in 94 countries including the US.