Originally posted Tuesday, December 11, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Netflix is typically pretty secretive about viewership data because it doesn’t need to reveal that information to the public.
But today, it decided to open the door ever so slightly by offering up its “most bingeworthy” original shows and films of 2019. Here are the top 10 shows in no particular order:
On My Block
Making a Murderer: Part 2
13 Reasons Why: Season 2
Last Chance U: INDY
Bodyguard
Fastest Car
The Haunting of Hill House
Anne with an E: Season 2
Insatiable
Orange Is the New Black: Season 6
Two of these shows are shot in metro Atlanta: the critically reviled pageant black comedy “Insatiable” and the dark horror series “The Haunting of Hill House.”
“Insatiable” was quickly renewed but Netflix has not announced a decision on the latter. The fact it’s in the top 10 says it is more likely to get another season than not.
Surprisingly, Jason Bateman's "Ozark" - shot in metro Atlanta - is not in the top 10. "Queer Eye," which aired its first two season in this area, did not make the list either but it released folks who received the biggest Instagram boost and that did include the show's Fab Five.
Also, by the way, “Stranger Things” did not have a season in calendar year 2018 so it’s not included either. (Season three will come out in 2019.)
“House of Cards,” the first notable Netflix original series, also did not appear.
Of the other eight, another early Netflix success story “Orange is the New Black” did make the cut. “Making a Murderer: Part 2” also was a major buzzworthy series, as was the controversial teen drama “13 Reasons Why” and coming-of-age series “On the Block.”
Some reality programming made the cut including football docuseries “Last Chance U: IND” and drag racing reality show “Fastest Car.”
A cautionary note: Netflix offered no actual viewership numbers. Indeed, it cautioned that “ranking on this list has no relation to overall viewing.” This list is only based on “the highest average watch time per viewing session,” meaning shows that people stuck with in a single sitting. In other words, some of these shows may not have had big overall viewership numbers but the folks who did watch stuck with the series before taking a break.
It also noted that two original films were watched more than once at least 50 percent of the time: teen romantic movies "Kissing Booth" and "To All the Boys I've Loved Before." The third one Netflix mentioned is "Roxanne, Roxanne," a film that focuses on the life of real-life rapper Roxanne Shante. (This film, by the way, was in part executive produced by my cousin Michael Y. Chow, who financed the 2013 Ryan Coogler/Michael B. Jordan drama "Fruitvale Station.")
Netflix didn’t include non-original programming such as “Friends” or “The Office.”
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