"Yeonjin, It's Thanks to You" 'The Glory' Ranks 3rd Globally on Netflix in First Half of the Year... Who's 1st?

Netflix Releases 'Viewing Status Report' for the First Time
The Glory Watched for 622.8 Million Hours Worldwide

In the first half of this year, the domestic drama 'The Glory: Season 1' ranked third in cumulative viewing hours on Netflix. It is the only non-English work among the top five titles, with a total of 622.8 million hours watched worldwide during the period.

Netflix Netflix Original Series 'The Glory' Poster. [Photo by Netflix]

On the 12th (local time), Netflix held a global online media briefing and released the 'Engagement Report.' This is the first time Netflix has disclosed cumulative viewing data by program.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix CEO, who presented the announcement, said, "Viewing hours are the easiest indicator to gauge user engagement," adding, "While we have previously shared some figures individually with creators, we created the engagement report to manage data more transparently."

Separately from the weekly Top 10 viewing rankings that Netflix began publishing in 2021, the company plans to release cumulative viewing hour rankings for titles on a semiannual basis going forward.

According to the report, 15 out of the 100 most-watched titles in the first half of the year were Korean works. The cumulative viewing hours reached 2.7328 billion. Titles such as Physical: 100 Season 1 (235 million hours, 15th place), Ilta Scandal: Limited Series (234.8 million hours, 16th place), and Doctor Cha Jeongsuk: Limited Series (194.7 million hours, 25th place) ranked high.

The first place was taken by The Night Agent: Season 1 (812.1 million hours), followed by Ginny & Georgia: Season 2 (665.1 million hours) in second place.

Netflix original series 'The Glory'.
[Photo by Netflix 'The Glory' capture]

The report included a total of about 18,000 titles, whose cumulative viewing hours amounted to 93.4552 billion hours, accounting for 99% of Netflix's total viewing time. As of the first half of the year, Netflix original titles accounted for 55%, while licensed titles acquired externally accounted for 45%. Non-English viewing hours made up 30% of the total, with Korean and Spanish titles being the most watched among them.

However, CEO Sarandos said it is difficult to view the semiannual engagement report as a ranking chart that measures popularity between titles. Titles released worldwide have an inherent advantage over those released only in limited regions, and differences in release timing and runtime must also be considered.

He added, "It is true that Korean and Spanish-language titles are very strong," but also noted, "For example, Mexican popular series like 'Telenovela,' which has over 50 episodes, or Korean dramas with an average runtime of over 17 hours per season, naturally accumulate more viewing hours."

Meanwhile, 'The Glory' received much love from viewers for realistically portraying the story of a woman whose soul was shattered by childhood violence, who dedicates her entire life to a desperate revenge.

'The Glory' Part 1 recorded 82.48 million cumulative viewing hours during the week of January 2 (January 2?8) this year, topping the Netflix Global Top 10 TV (Non-English) chart in 62 countries. After the release of Chart 2, by the end of March, it had accumulated 413.05 million viewing hours, ranking sixth in Netflix TV (Non-English) titles by all-time viewing hours. Upon release, Part 1 remained in the Top 10 list for five weeks, and Chart 2 held the No. 1 spot in the non-English category for three consecutive weeks immediately after its release.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.