Netflix’s Top 10 TV Show And Movie List Is About To Become The Top 50

Netflix is starting to test out an expanded version of its much talked-about Top 10 list, upgrading it to a full on Top 50 list. There will be one overall for the site, then separate ones for movies and TV like there is now, provided the current test pans out.

This was spotted by Saqib Shah, who confirmed the test with Netflix:

While Netflix says they will only roll out the feature wide if it is “useful” for its subscribers, given how popular the Top 10 list has been, I would certainly think that many people would make use out of the Top 50. I know I certainly would, and I wish I had the test right now to see what was on the list.

In addition to being a vehicle to recommend shows to people, a Netflix top 50 list would also provide a lot more data for those trying to track the performance of various Netflix series, and guess what may be renewed or what may be licensed next. When things currently fall off the Top 10 you really have no idea how they’re doing after that unless they resurface or Netflix releases numbers. And while the Top 10-50 lists are just a ranking order, not actual figures, it’s still better than nothing. This would also allow those who make the shows themselves to track the performance of the series better, because Netflix notoriously doesn’t always even share viewership data with them.

The Netflix Top 10 has been an object of fascination in media circles during the pandemic especially with many traditional networks shutting down TV production while Netflix keeps rolling out things from its backlog, and also with the movie box office mostly shuttered. What’s that meant is that in lockdown, any top movie or show on the Netflix Top 10 is very likely to be the most viewed piece of media in the country at any given time, considering Netflix’s sprawling subscription base. It’s why something like Queen’s Gambit has been all anyone talks about for the last month, after being planted on the top of the list for nearly a month before being unseated by The Crown. I’d argue that the Top 10 list even helps turn shows like Queen’s Gambit from potential hits into global megahits, as without it, it might have been overlooked listed alongside a thousand other options. But popularity snowballs into more popularity.

In my estimation, any further data Netflix shares about the popularity of its series is useful both for consumers and for observers like me, and I want to see more of it. I would also expect given how popular the Top 10 list has been, we might start to see it on other streaming services like Hulu, Amazon Prime Video or HBO Max, as I can see how it would be useful there as well. Expect that shortly, I would imagine.

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