'The Night Agent' the most-watched show on Netflix

Political thriller 'The Night Agent' was the most-watched show on Netflix in the first half of the year, with 812.2m hours viewed. Picture: Netflix

Political thriller The Night Agent, which premiered in March, was the most-watched show on Netflix in the first half of the year, with 812.2m hours viewed.

The data was released in the streaming giant’s first published viewer engagement report on 99% of its catalogue, covering more than 18,000 titles and almost 100bn hours of TV and films watched between January and June 2023.

Netflix had faced criticism about a lack of transparency about how well content performs on its platform. Film and TV makers have been demanding higher royalties for shows that performed well on streaming platforms.

“This is a big step forward for Netflix and our industry. We believe the viewing information in this report — combined with our weekly Top 10 and Most Popular lists — will give creators and our industry deeper insights into our audiences, and what resonates with them,” the company said.

Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said the company is increasing transparency around its most-watched shows, with top-10 lists on its streaming site and the new What We Watched engagement report to be published twice a year.

He said that the new engagement report is “a comprehensive, deep-dive into what people are watching on Netflix around the world”.

US comedy drama 'Ginny and Georgia' came in second, with 665.1m hours viewed. Picture: Netflix

It found that US comedy drama Ginny & Georgia, which returned for season 2 in January, came in second, with 665.1m hours viewed.

South Korean TV series, The Glory, season 1, had 622.8m hours viewed.

And Wednesday, season 1, the hit supernatural comedy horror about Wednesday from the Addams Family, which was released back in December 2022, still retained high viewing figures in the first half of this year, coming in fourth place with 507.7m hours viewed between January and June.

The report found that 30% of viewing was of non-English titles, and 45% of viewing in English language titles used subtitles or dubbing.

Netflix vice president of strategy and analysis Lauren Smith said non-English language titles including Physical 100 from Korea, The Snow Girl from Spain, and The Law According to Lydia Poet from Italy did particularly well.

She noted that the top viewed programmes represented a snapshot in time — if new shows were premiering at this time they were likely to do better than shows that were first screened in a previous year.

Films also did well on the platform. The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez was the most-watched film, with more than 249m hours viewed.

All Quiet on the Western Front, the German anti-war movie, still had 80m hours viewed in the first half of this year, even though it premiered in October 2022.

The What We Watched report also showed continued demand for older titles, Netflix said.

Some 55% of Netflix viewing came from original films and series and 45% from licensed titles, Mr Sarandos said.

'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story' was the fifth most viewed show, with 503m hours viewed.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story was the fifth most viewed show, with 503m hours viewed.

You , season 4, had 440.6m hours viewed in sixth place.

Season 3 of La Reina del Sur was in seventh place with 429.6m hours viewed.

And Outer Banks, season 3, had 402.5m hours viewed in sixth place.

The first season of Ginny & Georgia clocked 302.1m hours viewed while season 1 of FUBAR has 266.2m

The report also found that members watched six different genres per month.

“Success on Netflix comes in all shapes and sizes, and is not determined by hours viewed alone,” the company said.

“We have enormously successful movies and TV shows with both lower and higher hours viewed.

“It’s all about whether a movie or TV show thrilled its audience — and the size of that audience relative to the economics of the title,” it said.