Streaming giant Netflix launched a new feature this week that will allow subscribers to see a list of the top 10 shows and movies on the service. The list is generated daily and filtered by country so viewers will get a new list every day, tailored to their country of residence. The criteria for a show or movie landing in the top 10, however, is something of a mystery.
This feature represents a departure from the somewhat arbitrary lists Netflix used in the past. The various Netflix apps would display categories labeled “Trending” or “Popular on Netflix” with no explanation of what those descriptors exactly that meant. Many people speculated one or both categories could be a reflection of online discussion on social media until Netflix recently revealed their method for tracking views. However, even with that information, it was still impossible to compare the shows within a list or to track a show’s popularity within a given window of time.
That problem is solved by the new daily top 10 feature. According to Variety, a Netflix rep confirmed the list is decided by their new viewership-tracking metric. A show is considered to have been viewed each time a Netflix account plays it for at least two minutes. The idea is that a two-minute window removes the impact of a piece of content’s length from the metric. Based on this logic, it’s safe to deduce the number one show in the daily list is the one that has accumulated the most two-minute views in that country, within the last 24 hours. The rest of the list is organized based on that metric, so the second-place show achieved the second most two-minute views, and so on.
Why the Top Daily 10 Feature Makes Netflix Better
Netflix users come from places all over the globe, but there’s one amusing, embarrassing past time with which they can all identify: endlessly scrolling Netflix’s menus, looking for something to watch. The platform is known for creating an excruciating analysis paralysis amongst its viewers and it’s become an international joke. The new top 10 feature could alleviate this issue because it’s more concrete. Knowing that something about the shows on the list specifically captured a country’s audience today could spark curiosity better than just knowing a group of movies is vaguely “Trending”.
The more transparent nature of the daily top 10 may also put some of Netflix’s critics at ease. The company is often criticized for allegedly exaggerating the popularity of its original programming. It’s a reasonable criticism, as there’s no shortage of reasons Netflix might be tempted to argue Stranger Things is bigger than a non-exclusive show that might also exist on a competing platform, nor is it possible for a third party to disprove those claims. However, (assuming they aren’t making up these viewership numbers) the Netflix daily top 10 should more accurately reflect which pieces of content are truly garnering attention.
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Source: Variety
