Netflix rolls out top 10 feature following Mexico and UK trials

Netflix will roll out its top 10 rankings universally following successful trials in Mexico and the UK.

The company initially launched the feature, which shows the 10 most popular series and movies on any given day on the platform in the user’s country, in mid-2019. CEO Reed Hastings said then that the experimental feature is “For those who want to watch what others are watching, this may make choosing titles even easier.”

The test was evidently a success, with the streamer deciding to bring the top 10 lists to wider markets.

In a blog post, Cameron Johnson, director of product innovation, wrote: “We’re constantly looking for ways to make Netflix better. It’s why we’ve been experimenting with top 10 lists in Mexico and the UK for the last six plus months. Members in both countries have found them useful, so we are now rolling them out to even more.

“When you watch a great movie or TV show, you share it with family and friends, or talk about it at work, so other people can enjoy it too. We hope these top 10 lists will help create more of these shared moments, while also helping all of us find something to watch more quickly and easily.”

Users will be presented with three top 10 lists – one for overall viewing, one for movies and another for series. Outside of those specific lists, featured titles in other categories will be tagged with a specific ‘Top 10’ label to show their popularity.

Netflix has pledged to be more transparent with its viewership, and this is the latest step.

The streamer had previously revealed localised top 10 lists for 2019, with docuseries The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann proving the most popular show in the UK.

These lists also prove to heighten the cultural zeitgeist of Netflix’s originals (in the US, Incredibles 2 was the only non-Netflix title in the top 10) at a time when the streamer is losing vital licenced content such as Friends to streamers from the likes of Disney, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal.