The world of live streaming has thrown a curveball in the race for viewers’ attention.
Netflix has released data on their most watched pieces of content for the first half of 2023. We are comparing it to live streaming data on platforms such as Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Kick, and Facebook Gaming.
Here is a comparison we did in 2021 based on the first 28 days of the top content on Netflix back then vs viewership during September 2021.
Based on this comparison, we can see the huge growth Just Chatting has had in the past two years. The popular category went to number 1 after being 2 places below two popular movies on Netflix.
A New Leaderboard Champion on Live Streaming
Topping the leaderboard in hours watched is the popular category, Just Chatting, with a staggering 1.6 billion hours watched. With the trendy new platform Kick, Just Chatting went over the top, while streamers from other platforms also started their own channels on the green platform. Moreover, a popular trend among streamers called Subathons were, and continue to be, meta on live streaming platforms today.
A Subathon is a tactic by which creators continuously broadcast during a period of time to gain subscriptions from viewers. A highlight of the subathons during the 1st half of 2023 is Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon, where the creator streamed continuously from February 1st to March 2nd. Moreover, Kai broke 2 important records on Twitch, most hours watched by a single channel in a month with 43M, and most active subscribers with 306K.
Read more about Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon:
The second most-watched category in H1 of this year was the gaming juggernaut League of Legends, with about half the viewership of Just Chatting at 817M hours watched. This figure reflects the game’s enduring popularity and underscores the vibrant community that continues to thrive around it.
The esports side of League of Legends also generated the hours watched necessary to become top 2. During the time frame analyzed, all 4 major continental competitions started their winter and spring splits (LEC, LCK, LPL, and LCS). Even after these splits ended, the global Mid-Season Invitational happened as well.
Netflix’s most watched series, ‘The Night Agent: Season 1’ found itself below the top category across live streaming platforms during the 1st half of 2023 by half of its hours watched, and the most watched game by 5M hours watched.
Analyzing the Streaming Landscape
This data comparison offers fascinating insights into the evolving preferences of digital audiences. The dominance of Just Chatting indicates a shift towards more interactive, community-driven content, which live streaming platforms excel at providing. Brands can tap into this potential thanks to the possibility of real-time interaction.
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