Looking for something to watch on Netflix can be a nightmare! So I wanted to find a really easy way to find out what the most popular TV shows and Films have been over the year. I wanted to see what was popular by the total number of hours watched as well as an average number of hours watched whilst the show was placed in a top 10 position to get a true ranking order by popularity.
Here’s what I found.
These stats are correct as of the 23rd of August 2022, not including the top 10 weekly stats due to be released today.
TV Shows
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess which show takes the top spot on this one.
TV shows by the number of hours watched
| Pos | Title | # of hours watched | # Weeks in the top 10 |
| 1 | Stranger Things | 2,845,460,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Bridgerton | 949,010,000 | 11 |
| 3 | Ozark | 751,600,000 | 13 |
| 4 | Inventing Anna | 654,560,000 | 10 |
| 5 | Manifest | 466,670,000 | 15 |
| 6 | The Umbrella Academy | 414,630,000 | 5 |
| 7 | Cobra Kai | 383,640,000 | 4 |
| 8 | The Lincoln Lawyer | 305,270,000 | 6 |
| 9 | The Witcher | 298,580,000 | 6 |
| 10 | Virgin River | 269,860,000 | 4 |
TV shows by The Number of hours / Number of weeks in the top ten
| Pos | Title | # of hours watched | # Weeks in the top 10 |
| 1 | Stranger Things | 2,845,460,000 | 12 |
| 2 | The Sandman | 196,980,000 | 2 |
| 3 | Cobra Kai | 383,640,000 | 4 |
| 4 | Bridgerton | 949,010,000 | 11 |
| 5 | The Umbrella Academy | 414,630,000 | 5 |
| 6 | Virgin River | 269,860,000 | 4 |
| 7 | Inventing Anna | 654,560,000 | 10 |
| 8 | Ozark | 751,600,000 | 13 |
| 9 | Resident Evil | 173,400,000 | 3 |
| 10 | Never Have I Ever | 55,010,000 | 1 |
Most Popular Seasons of 2022 hours watched / weeks in the top 10
| Pos | Title | # of hours watched | # Weeks in the top 10 |
| 1 | Stranger Things 4 | 1,764,790,000 | 12 |
| 2 | The Sandman: Season 1 | 196,980,000 | 2 |
| 3 | Cobra Kai: Season 4 | 292,950,000 | 4 |
| 4 | Bridgerton: Season 2 | 775,240,000 | 11 |
| 5 | Virgin River: Season 4 | 269,860,000 | 4 |
| 6 | Inventing Anna: Limited Series | 654,560,000 | 10 |
| 7 | The Umbrella Academy: Season 3 | 301,850,000 | 5 |
| 8 | Resident Evil: Season 1 | 173,400,000 | 3 |
| 9 | Never Have I Ever: Season 3 | 55,010,000 | 1 |
| 10 | Vikings: Valhalla: Season 1 | 265,550,000 | 5 |
what to take away from this is that Stranger Things has been the biggest TV show of 2022 so far and will likely stay in the top position for the rest of the year.
The Sandman is a strong contestant with only being released in the last couple of weeks, but we will have to see how many weeks it stays in the top 10.
If you haven’t watched Ozark and Bridgerton, these are definitely a good place to start however it is interesting to see that Ozark individual seasons have not taken a top 10 spot in the hours/weeks at top to table.
Despite Resident Evil getting shady reviews online and only scoring maybe it’s not all that bad. I haven’t actually watched it yet but I will give it a shot a provide a review in the next few weeks.
Films and Documentary
I have included 20 films in the charts for this one since there’s less viewing time per title compared to tv shows.
Films by number of hours watched
| Pos | Title | # of hours watched | # Weeks in the top 10 |
| 1 | Don’t Look Up | 278,550,000 | 8 |
| 2 | The Adam Project | 260,520,000 | 8 |
| 3 | The Gray Man | 245,080,000 | 4 |
| 4 | Hustle | 198,310,000 | 6 |
| 5 | Purple Hearts | 197,190,000 | 3 |
| 6 | The Sea Beast | 182,030,000 | 6 |
| 7 | The Tinder Swindler | 172,130,000 | 5 |
| 8 | The Man from Toronto | 170,820,000 | 6 |
| 9 | Senior Year | 167,600,000 | 6 |
| 10 | 365 Days: This Day | 122,200,000 | 4 |
| 11 | Sing 2 | 111,890,000 | 8 |
| 12 | A Perfect Pairing | 91,610,000 | 5 |
| 13 | Interceptor | 89,410,000 | 3 |
| 14 | Spiderhead | 83,220,000 | 3 |
| 15 | The In Between | 82,070,000 | 4 |
| 16 | The Weekend Away | 79,950,000 | 3 |
| 17 | Brazen | 79,750,000 | 3 |
| 18 | The Royal Treatment | 77,580,000 | 3 |
| 19 | Sonic the Hedgehog | 75,840,000 | 8 |
| 20 | A Madea Homecoming | 72,790,000 | 4 |
Films by # of hours watched / # weeks in the top ten
| Pos | Title | # of hours watched | # Weeks in the top 10 |
| 1 | Purple Hearts | 197,190,000 | 3 |
| 2 | The Gray Man | 245,080,000 | 4 |
| 3 | Day Shift | 56,510,000 | 1 |
| 4 | Don’t Look Up | 278,550,000 | 8 |
| 5 | The Tinder Swindler | 172,130,000 | 5 |
| 6 | Hustle | 198,310,000 | 6 |
| 7 | The Adam Project | 260,520,000 | 8 |
| 8 | 365 Days: This Day | 122,200,000 | 4 |
| 9 | The Sea Beast | 182,030,000 | 6 |
| 10 | Interceptor | 89,410,000 | 3 |
| 11 | The Man from Toronto | 170,820,000 | 6 |
| 12 | Senior Year | 167,600,000 | 6 |
| 13 | Spiderhead | 83,220,000 | 3 |
| 14 | The Weekend Away | 79,950,000 | 3 |
| 15 | Brazen | 79,750,000 | 3 |
| 16 | The Royal Treatment | 77,580,000 | 3 |
| 17 | Texas Chainsaw Massacre | 46,620,000 | 2 |
| 18 | Persuasion | 68,830,000 | 3 |
| 19 | Love & Gelato | 44,690,000 | 2 |
| 20 | Uncharted | 44,360,000 | 2 |
all the above is not an exact science, but it does give a good start on finding some of the most popular content on Netflix
I hope you find this useful and that it helps you find something else to watch.
It is worth a note that this obviously does not include any data after 23/08/2022, including the data due to be released today.
Emily Taylor
