Netflix's daily top 10 lists show why it can survive without 'Friends' and 'The Office'
- Netflix's new daily top 10 lists of its most popular titles are showcasing its original content, which is essential as more companies launch their own streaming services.
- Popular titles on Netflix like "Friends" and "The Office" are moving to other platforms, but Netflix's lists suggest that "users are shifting to other content," as noted by LightShed analyst Rich Greenfield.
- Greenfield said that that Netflix's "home screen discovery/algorithm and word of mouth are far more important" than "traditional media marketing."
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Netflix introduced daily lists of its most popular movies and TV shows late last month that users can see on the service.
The streaming giant has peeled the curtain back on some of its most-watched content in recent months, saying it's from a desire to be more transparent, but the daily lists serve another purpose: highlighting Netflix's original content.
For the most part, over the past two weeks, the majority of the shows and movies on the overall list each day have been Netflix originals. The romance reality TV series "Love Is Blind" and the true-crime series "The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez" have regularly been near the top and on Thursday, the new season of "On My Block" topped the list.
Original content is essential for Netflix as more companies enter the streaming war. "Friends" left the service at the end of 2019 for the upcoming WarnerMedia competitor, HBO Max. "The Office" will leave Netflix at the end of this year for NBCUniversal's Peacock. And Disney, which launched Disney Plus in November, ended a licensing deal with Netflix last year.
"The Office" and "Friends" were the most popular titles on Netflix of 2018, according to data from the former analytics firm Jumpshot (it shut down last month). But the streamer's daily lists suggest that it can continue to thrive as more users discover new content.
"'Friends' has been gone for months along with no fresh content from Disney, and while some subscribers are clearly bummed ... they have simply shifted to watching other content," LightShed analyst Rich Greenfield said in a recent note.
While licensed shows like "The Office" and "Better Call Saul" have been included in the top 10 TV shows, they haven't changed the overall trend. On Friday, Netflix revealed the overall top 10 movies and TV shows of the week, and the majority were Netflix originals like "Altered Carbon," "All the Bright Places," and "Love Is Blind."
And when a licensed movie like "Kung-Fu Panda 2" shows up on the list, it's often because it's brand new to Netflix.
"Deep catalog movies that show up as 'new on Netflix' can rise up quickly," noted Greenfield, adding that Netflix's "home screen discovery/algorithm and word of mouth are far more important" than "traditional media marketing."
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.