These Are The Most Watched Netflix Shows Of All Time (By Hours Viewed)

Netflix has so many great dramas, comedies and (some) films come out throughout the years but which ones are the best? We've compiled a list of the most watched Netflix shows of all time by total hours viewed so you can check them off your watchlist. 

Netflix are famously quiet with their watch time and viewership figures but they have published a separate website (top.10.netflix.com) to document which of their features are doing the best across the world.

The weekly updated charts provides what Netflix users are most interested in, and then they are rated by the total number of hours that subscribers watched each title. The website lists the most popular titles from the previous week in more than 90 countries as well as globally. 

How Netflix Calculated Its Viewing Figures?

Every Tuesday, the company publishes its weekly "Top 10 on Netflix" based on the number of hours viewed of both original and licenced programmes from Monday through Sunday of the previous week. The lists are divided into top 10 charts for English-language movies, English-language TV shows, foreign-language movies, and foreign-language TV shows.

The website also includes a list of the shows with the highest viewing hours within the first 28 days of release, as well as a ranking of the most watched shows of all time. If a new season's episodes are released in two parts on different schedules, Netflix counts the watch time of the episodes for the first 28 days of the first quantity before counting the watch time of the episodes for the first 28 days of the second instalment.

Netflix's Top 10 site also documents the most watched Netflix shows of all time and they are as follows. How many have you seen?

Squid Game (1.6B)

Squid Game 오징어 게임 is a South Korean drama series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, and Kim Joo-ryoung.

The show revolves on a competition in which 456 participants, all of whom are experiencing extreme financial difficulties, put their lives in danger by playing a series of deadly children's games in an effort to win a prize worth ₩45.6 billion ($£29 million). The series' name is based on a children's game that is popular in South Korea. Hwang had developed the concept in response to his own early-life financial struggles, the class divide in South Korea, and capitalism. Despite having written it in 2009, he was unable to secure a production company to fund the project until Netflix showed interest in it in 2019 as part of their original programming strategy.

On September 17, 2021, Squid Game was globally released to hugely positive reviews and interest from throughout the world. It surpassed Bridgerton to become Netflix's most watched series, making it the most watched programme in 94 countries, attracting more than 142 million member households, and accruing 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first four weeks of release.

Bridgerton Season 2 (656M)

The historical-romance television programme Bridgerton is based on the books of Julia Quinn. It's Shondaland's debut scripted production for Netflix, and it was made by Chris Van Dusen. Set against the backdrop of the Regency era, Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth, the eight close-knit Bridgerton siblings, explore London high society in pursuit of love while surrounded by both friends and rivals.

The first season premiered on December 25, 2020, to mostly good reviews. With 625.49 million hours seen, it quickly was the most-watched English-language series on Netflix.

With 656.16 million hours watched in its first 28 days of distribution, Bridgerton's second season became the most watched English-language television series on Netflix.

Money Heist (792M)

Money Heist ( La casa de papel - 'The House of Paper') is a Spanish crime drama series developed by Álex Pina. (Álvaro Morte)From the perspective of one of the thieves, Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), the series follows two meticulously planned heists carried out by the Professor (Álvaro Morte), one on the Royal Mint of Spain and the other on the Bank of Spain. Flashbacks, time jumps, concealed character motivations, and an unreliable narrator are used to add complexity to the overarching plotline.

It was originally planned for the series to only consist of two parts. Antena 3 in Spain broadcast the show's initial 15 episodes from 2 May until 23 November 2017.

Late in 2017, Netflix purchased worldwide streaming rights. It shortened the series into 22 shorter episodes and distributed it globally, releasing the first part on December 20, 2017, and the second on April 6, 2018.

The show was praised by critics for its complex plot, interpersonal dynamics, direction, and ambition to modernise Spanish television. It won multiple honours, including the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series at the 46th International Emmy Awards. By 2018, the Netflix series has become one of the most popular series overall and the most successful non-English-language series, particularly with viewers from Mediterranean Europe and Latin America.

Stranger Things: Season Three (582M)

On July 4, 2019, Netflix began streaming the third season of the American science fiction series Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers, along with Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Iain Paterson, are the show's creators and executive producers. Critics gave the season positive reviews, praising the aesthetics, humour, acting, and emotional impact; although, some criticised the narrative framework and overuse of pop culture references.

Hawkins' newly inaugurated Starcourt Mall attracted a lot of attention during the summer of 1985, forcing other businesses to close as a result. Despite Eleven having closed the portal, Will starts to get visions of the Upside Down, and they conclude the Mind Flayer is still alive and somehow tied to the Mall.

Netflix announced that within four days of the third season's release, over 40.7 million accounts had seen at least 70% of one episode, setting a record for any Netflix programme, while 18.2 million had watched the full season. Over 64 million households watched Stranger Things 3 in the first four weeks of its release, according to a Netflix analysis from October 2019.

Lucifer Season 5 (569M)

Tom Kapinos created the American fantasy series Lucifer, which debuted on January 25, 2016, and ran until September 10, 2021. It is based on the Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg created DC Comics character. The protagonist of a subsequent comic book series that sprang out from the original character's introduction in The Sandman. The series centres on the journey of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), the Devil in the DC Universe, who leaves Hell for Los Angeles to open his own nightclub called Lux and work as a consultant for the LAPD (LAPD).

Despite having a large audience for its premiere, ratings for the Fox series remained consistently low throughout its run. After three seasons on Fox, the show was cancelled. A month later, Netflix picked up the show, and it ran for another three seasons, continuously drawing large audiences during its time on the network.

All Of Us Are Dead (560M)

South Korea's coming-of-age zombie apocalypse series All of Us Are Dead (지금 우리 학교는) stars Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun, and Jeon Bae-soo. After a disastrous science experiment, zombies take over a local high school, and the imprisoned students fight to escape. They are forced to use the equipment around the school to defend themselves in the middle of a conflict because they have no access to food or water and the government has cut off all communication. 

It is based on the original Naver webtoon created by Joo Dong-geun  released between 2009 and 2011. The show premiered on Netflix on January 28, 2022. In the first 30 days after its debut, the show received over 474.26 million hours of viewing time. The show received a second season renewal on June 6, 2022.

The Witcher Season 1 (541M)

The Witcher is a Netflix Original fantasy series developed by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. It is based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's book series of the same name. The Witcher examines the myth of Princess Ciri, Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Geralt of Rivia on the Continent, a made-up region with mediaeval influences. Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan are its main actors.

Netflix aired the first season, which has eight episodes, on December 20, 2019. It was based on the short story collections The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, which come before the main The Witcher series.

The start of the second season was on December 17, 2021. Midway through 2023, the third season is expected to debut.

Inventing Anna (511M)

The account of Anna Sorokin and Jessica Pressler's article, "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People," served as the basis for Shonda Rhimes' American drama series, "Inventing Anna". Netflix began streaming the show on February 11, 2022.

Russian-born Anna Sorokin easily fooled wealthy New Yorkers into thinking she was a German heiress with access to a sizable fortune by using the alias Anna Delvey. As she worked toward her vision of founding a prestigious club with an art theme, she utilises this persona to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gifts, and services.

The title role of Anna Sorokin was played by Julia Garner. Critics gave the series mixed reviews, praising the performances (especially Garner's), but criticising the tone's inconsistency.

13 Reasons Why Season 2 (496M)

Based on Jay Asher's 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why, the American teen drama series was created by Brian Yorkey for Netflix. Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), a  high school student, commits suicide, and Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) deals with the aftermath in the series. She records a series of cassette tapes before ending her life, detailing her motivations for doing so as well as the others she holds accountable.

The programme examines and portrays a wide range of social concerns affecting modern teenagers through its numerous narratives.

On March 31, 2017, the first season was made publicly available on Netflix. Both critics and viewers gave it favourable reviews, praising its concepts, emotional impact, subject matter, character development, and acting, especially Minnette and Langford's roles.

Ozark Season 4 (491M)

Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams created the Netflix original crime thriller series Ozark. Marty and Wendy Byrde, a married couple who relocate their family to the Lake of the Ozarks and start working as money launderers, are played in the series by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. In addition, Bateman directs and produces the production of the show. Throughout its run, Ozark received positive reviews from critics, who praised it in especially for its tone, directing, cinematography, and acting (particularly those of Bateman, Linney, and Julia Garner). There have been 45 Primetime Emmy nominations for the series overall.

According to 56 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season has an 85% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.9/10.

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