What the 'views' number in the Netflix Top 10 actually counts

Articles about the Netflix Top 10 quote figures like “7.5 million views” without saying what that number counts. Netflix sets out the answer itself, in the methodology note published on its own Top 10 site. This guide follows that note step by step.

By the end you will be able to read a single row of a weekly list — the category, the counting window, the views figure and the weeks-on-list count — and you will be able to tell the weekly lists, the country lists and the most popular lists apart as three tables built on different rules.

The guide was verified against the Netflix Top 10 methodology note at netflix.com/tudum/top10, checked on 28 August 2026. The example figures come from the same site: the non-English TV list for the week of 10 to 16 August 2026 and the most popular list.

1. Open the Netflix Top 10 page

Type netflix.com/tudum/top10 into your web browser’s address bar to open the Netflix Top 10 page. Netflix publishes four global Top 10 lists there every Tuesday, in its own wording: “Movies (English), Series (English), Movies (Non-English), and Series (Non-English)”. Non-English here means the title’s original language is not English, so Korean dramas are found in the non-English tables. On the list for the week of 10 to 16 August 2026, Our Sticky Love is placed at number one in the non-English TV category.

2. Check which week the list counts

Look first at the week dates printed above the table. Netflix ranks titles by views from Monday to Sunday of the previous week, so a list published on a Tuesday covers the seven days of the week before it. The example table above counts 10 to 16 August 2026, and those figures were published on the following Tuesday.

3. Apply the definition of views to the number

Netflix’s written definition runs: “We define views for a title as the total hours viewed divided by the total runtime. Values are rounded to 100,000.” A single row shows views alongside hours viewed and runtime, which means the relationship can be checked in place. On the list for the week of 10 to 16 August 2026, Our Sticky Love is recorded with 7.5 million views, a runtime of 11 hours and 44 minutes and 88 million hours viewed. Dividing 88 million hours by 11 hours and 44 minutes gives roughly 7.5 million, and the 7.5 million printed in the table is that result rounded to the nearest 100,000.

4. Note that seasons and movies are counted separately

Netflix counts each season of a show and each movie as its own entry, which is why two seasons of the same series can sit on one table at the same time. Its note gives the example that you might see both Stranger Things seasons 2 and 3 in the Top 10. Check the season label next to the title in the row to know which season’s views the figure belongs to.

5. Read the weeks-on-list figure

Each row also carries a weeks-in-Top-10 figure. Because titles move in and out of the Top 10, Netflix shows the total number of weeks that a season of a show or a movie has spent on the list. It is the sum of every week the title appeared, not a run of consecutive weeks.

6. Tell the country lists apart from the global lists

Alongside the global lists, Netflix publishes Top 10 lists for nearly 100 countries and territories — the same locations where Top 10 rows appear on Netflix itself. Country lists are ranked by views as well. A country ranking and a global ranking come from different tables, so they are not read as one figure. The Korea Herald reported on 19 August 2026 that Our Sticky Love topped Netflix’s non-English chart with 7.5 million views in the tracking week ending Sunday and was number one in 26 of the 68 countries where it entered the top 10.

7. Check the 91-day rule behind the most popular lists

Each of the four categories also has a most popular list. It covers titles branded Netflix in any country and ranks them by the views each title recorded in its first 91 days. The 91 days are counted from the release of each episode, and a season becomes eligible for the list once the last batch or episode of that season is released. On Netflix’s most popular non-English TV list, places one to three are Squid Game seasons 1, 2 and 3, and place 10 is Teach You a Lesson, released on 5 June 2026. The views on a weekly list and the views on this list cover different periods, so they are not compared as like figures.

8. Check how split releases are handled for runtime

Shows that go out episode by episode each week, or in parts, have more than one premiere date. For these shows, Netflix calculates views from the total hours viewed during a given week divided by the latest available runtime. As episodes accumulate the runtime used as the divisor changes, so the runtime printed in that week’s row has to be read together with that week’s views figure.

9. Check the different basis of lists published before 20 June 2023

Information on the Netflix Top 10 site starts from 28 June 2021, and any lists published before 20 June 2023 are ranked by hours viewed rather than by views. When opening an older weekly list, use its date to work out which basis it was sorted on, and do not place rankings built on the two different bases side by side as equivalent.

10. Record the category and the counting window with the figure

There are four lists and the tables change every week, so a views figure lifted on its own cannot be traced back to the table it came from. This site quotes values from the Netflix Top 10 page with the category, the counting window, the ranking and the views figure together, and reproduces the definition of views in Netflix’s own words. Rankings are not used to rate one title or performer above another. Korean outlets spell the figure out too: Herald Business, writing in Korean on 29 July 2026, glossed views in brackets as hours viewed divided by the title’s total runtime and reported that Teach You a Lesson had entered Netflix’s most popular series top 10 with 60.2 million views eight weeks after release.

11. Check the Netflix Top 10 site when a table looks wrong

If a number differs from the one you remember, look at the week dates above the table first: the weekly lists roll over to a new week on Tuesday, so until then the previous week’s table is still on screen. The explanation of the definitions and the counting rules sits in the methodology note on the Netflix Top 10 site, netflix.com/tudum/top10, which is the document Netflix has written about these tables itself. If the page does not load, type the address into the browser’s address bar again to reopen it.

Frequently asked questions

Does 7.5 million views mean 7.5 million people watched it?

Netflix’s written definition is the total hours viewed divided by the total runtime, with values rounded to 100,000, and that result is the number in the table. For the week of 10 to 16 August 2026, Our Sticky Love is recorded with 88 million hours viewed, a runtime of 11 hours and 44 minutes and 7.5 million views.

When do new lists go up?

Netflix publishes the four global Top 10 lists every Tuesday, and the rankings are based on views from Monday to Sunday of the previous week.

Can two seasons of the same series appear on one table?

Yes. Netflix considers each season of a show and each movie on their own, and its note gives the example that you might see both Stranger Things seasons 2 and 3 in the Top 10.

Are the views on a weekly list and on a most popular list the same measure?

No. A weekly list covers one week, Monday to Sunday, while a most popular list covers the views a title recorded in its first 91 days. A season becomes eligible for the most popular list once its last batch or episode is released.

Are the country lists ranked by views as well?

Yes. Netflix publishes Top 10 lists for nearly 100 countries and territories, and those country lists are also ranked by views.

Can rankings from before 2023 be read the same way?

Information on the Netflix Top 10 site starts from 28 June 2021, and any lists published before 20 June 2023 are ranked by hours viewed.