For a long while, Netflix has decided the popularity of its most-watched TV series and movies should be determined by how many hours the streaming service’s customers watched it. So, for instance, if you rewatched a season of Stranger Things, you’d be boosting its ratings just even though you’d already seen it. Now Netflix has changed its algorithm — kind of — and it’s to Wednesday’s benefit.
The new system Netflix is using divides the number of hours watched by the runtime of the show or movie, and decides that’s how many people watched it. This is bogus, of course; again, if you rewatched season one of Stranger Things, Netflix is essentially stating you are two separate people. It’s not much of a change, really, in terms of how these rankings of the shows and movies break down, but it’s enough for The Addams Family pseudo-spin-off to knock down Netflix’s previous TV champion, Stranger Things season four. Here are the top 10 series:
And here are the top 10 movies:
Netflix has also decided to extend the period it measures its ratings from 28 days to 91 days — a jump from four weeks to 12 weeks, so that’s significantly goosing these ratings as well. If you’re a Wednesday fan, this must be tremendously exciting and gratifying. For a Stranger Things fan, it may be a dark day indeed. For everyone else, I assume, it’s likely *shrug*. But if not, Netflix has far more detailed info on its most-watched movies and series, both English-language and foreign, and both here and around the globe, here.
[Via IndieWire]