You’re still hooked and Netflix knows why
Netflix is an essential part of life for any broke girl living in the city.
There is nothing better than sitting in with your housemate/boyfriend/alone gorging on Netflix. They have now revealed the secret to what gets us all ‘hooked.’
Netflix releases the latest set of hooked episodes*. It turns out nothing brings the world together like thrilling mysteries, young love, family drama, and criminal behaviour. Also, dogs…
Netflix did some research looking at more than 30 extra series** on a global scale (viewing spanned six continents) to pinpoint the episode that converted people from being a ‘casual’ to ‘committed’ viewer – that is, the episode that kept 70% of viewers watching through a first season’s end.
It looks like viewing behaviour is actually quite universal. Members are getting hooked on similar episodes. This happens regardless of whether they live in Argentina or Japan. They are also identifying with similar storylines.
Fear of the unknown turned watchers upside down for Stranger Things (Where’s Will, where’s Barb and what’s a Demogorgon?!; episode 2). As well as bewitched with American Horror Story: Murder House (The dead roam freely on All Hallows’ Eve; ep 4).
The underworld of political corruption, whether it’s Pablo Escobar’s thirst for power in Colombia or Robert Taro’s fight to keep it in France, had members addicted to both Narcos and Marseille by ep 3.
Unsurprisingly, the curiosity of criminality had members arrested to The Fall (Paul Spector proves murder is not a spectator sport; episode 2). Members were also arrested to Prison Break (Michael finds staying alive in prison is harder than breaking out; ep 3). Additionally, they were arrested to Making A Murderer (Brendan Dassey is interrogated; ep 4).
Love in an elevator
However, not all hooked moments were dark or deadly. Love was the key to get viewers hooked.
- Gilmore Girls (Rory’s first kiss!; ep 7)
- Jane the Virgin (Jane rekindles an old flame, ep 7)
- Grey’s Anatomy (Meredith gets steamy with McDreamy in an elevator; ep12)
Viewers also related to family relationships
- The Get Down (Mylene’s future hits a high note, but her relationship with her father hits a new low, ep 2),
- Club de Cuervos (Chava derails plans for the Iglesias soccer dynasty; ep 4)
- The Ranch (The only thing bigger than Colt’s ego is Beau’s stubbornness; ep 3)
- A mix of the two worked for Fuller House when puppy Cosmo rounds out the Tanner clan in ep 4.
What Netflix said…
“We’ve always believed there is a universality to great stories. The Internet allows us to share these stories with a global audience. What we see from the data is how similar our members watch and respond,” said Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content at Netflix.
“WE’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED THERE IS A UNIVERSALITY TO GREAT STORIES”
CINDY HOLLAND (VP of Original content)
“The hooked findings give us confidence that there is an appetite for original and unique content all over the world, which is why we’re excited to deliver variety in stories to our members, whether they’re political dramas from France or musical dramas from the Netflix releases the latest set of hooked episodes* and it turns out nothing brings the world together like thrilling mysteries, young love, family drama and criminal behaviour. Also, dogs…Bronx.”
‘Hooked’ defined by Netflix
Methodology: A hooked episode was defined as one in which 70% of viewers who watched that episode went on to complete season one of the same series. Hooked episodes were first identified by country and then averaged to create the global hooked episode. The hooked episode did not correlate with total viewership numbers or season attrition. While the Netflix research did confirm episodes, it didn’t show specific plot points.
**Not all shows are available in all countries
