Parents with preschool-aged kids and younger probably won’t be shocked by the most-watched show on Netflix in 2020. Everyone else, get ready to scratch your heads.
The team at streaming tracker Reelgood kept tabs on all the shows that made it on Netflix’s top 10 rankers this year (since the streamer started publicizing it in late February) and “Cocomelon,” the preschool franchise that began as a YouTube channel featuring nursery rhymes and other kids’ songs, has been a smash.
Netflix began airing episodes of “Cocomelon” earlier this year. It has spent 104 days on Netflix’s top 10 ranker, more than any other program except “The Office.”
When Reelgood looks at how consistently high each program ranked on Netflix, assigning the most points to No. 1, “Cocomelon” winds up as the most popular show since February (when the top 10 most-watched lists began) on the streamer.
British company Moonbug Entertainment acquired “Cocomelon,” which comes from Irvine, Calif.-based Treasure Studio, in July.
After looking at every TV program title’s total number of appearances on Netflix’s daily lists, and their place on the list each time, Reelgood found that Netflix originals made up more than half of the final top 10, but that the two highest-ranking titles — “Cocomelon” and “The Office”— were licensed content. (“The Office” exits Netflix at the end of the year, as it moves exclusively to NBCUniversal’s Peacock streamer.)
Per Reelgood, overall there were over 190 different TV shows that made it to Netflix’s daily top 10 between Feb 27 and Dec 9, 2020, led by “The Office,” with 178 appearances.
When ranker position is factored in, the other shows making it to the top five come from Netflix: “The Queen’s Gambit,” “Tiger King” and “Ozark.”
The success of “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Tiger King” this year backs up Netflix’s assertions that they are among the streamer’s most popular series ever. Netflix recently claimed that “The Queen’s Gambit” set the record as the most-watched scripted limited series to date on Netflix — with 62 million member accounts tuning in to the show in the first 28 days, according to the company. Earlier this year, Netflix said “Tiger King” was sampled by 64 million member accounts in the first month of its release.
THE 50 TOP-RANKED NETFLIX PROGRAMS OF 2020
| Rank | PROGRAM | POINTS | |
| 1. | Cocomelon | 572 | |
| 2. | The Office (U.S.) | 438 | |
| 3. | The Queen’s Gambit | 431 | |
| 4. | Tiger King | 382 | |
| 5. | Ozark | 377 | |
| 6. | Outer Banks | 344 | |
| 7. | The Umbrella Academy | 320 | |
| 8. | Unsolved Mysteries | 310 | |
| 9. | Cobra Kai | 299 | |
| 10. | Love is Blind | 297 | |
| 11. | Avatar: The Last Airbender | 295 | |
| 12. | All American | 266 | |
| 13. | Schitt’s Creek | 253 | |
| 14. | The Haunting of Bly Manor | 241 | |
| 15. | Ratched | 228 | |
| 16. | 13 Reasons Why | 225 | |
| 17. | Emily in Paris | 207 | |
| 18. | The Boss Baby: Back in Business | 207 | |
| 19. | Floor is Lava | 202 | |
| 20. | Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich | 202 | |
| 21. | Shameless | 201 | |
| 22. | The Crown | 199 | |
| 23. | Dead to Me | 191 | |
| 24. | The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez | 190 | |
| 25. | The Great British Baking Show | 187 | |
| 26. | Away | 185 | |
| 27. | Lucifer | 181 | |
| 28. | Space Force | 179 | |
| 29. | The Last Dance | 178 | |
| 30. | Cursed | 150 | |
| 31. | The Order | 150 | |
| 32. | Down to Earth with Zac Efron | 145 | |
| 33. | Warrior Nun | 137 | |
| 34. | Sweet Magnolias | 131 | |
| 35. | The Legend of Korra | 127 | |
| 36. | Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous | 127 | |
| 37. | Never Have I Ever | 125 | |
| 38. | Too Hot to Handle | 124 | |
| 39. | Waco | 124 | |
| 40. | Riverdale | 123 | |
| 41. | Money Heist | 120 | |
| 42. | Evil | 114 | |
| 43. | Altered Carbon | 113 | |
| 44. | Virgin River | 110 | |
| 45. | Hollywood | 110 | |
| 46. | Grand Army | 109 | |
| 47. | On My Block | 108 | |
| 48. | The Last Kingdom | 104 | |
| 49. | Dark Desire | 102 | |
| 50. | World’s Most Wanted | 98 | |
| Source: Reelgood. The top 50 TV shows to make it to Netflix’s Top 10 daily reports from Feb 27 to Dec 9, 2020. Every time a title placed 1st on Netflix’s daily top 10, they get 10 points. Nine points for 2nd place, eight for 3rd, seven for 4th, and so on. | |||
THE 50 NETFLIX PROGRAMS OF 2020 BASED ON NUMBER OF APPEARANCES
| Rank | PROGRAM | APPEARANCES | |
| 1. | The Office (U.S.) | 178 | |
| 2. | Cocomelon | 104 | |
| 3. | Ozark | 57 | |
| 4. | Schitt’s Creek | 55 | |
| 5. | Avatar: The Last Airbender | 54 | |
| 6. | Tiger King | 50 | |
| 7. | The Queen’s Gambit | 47 | |
| 8. | Outer Banks | 45 | |
| 9. | Unsolved Mysteries | 43 | |
| 10. | The Umbrella Academy | 43 | |
| 11. | All American | 43 | |
| 12. | Cobra Kai | 42 | |
| 13. | The Great British Baking Show | 39 | |
| 14. | The Boss Baby: Back in Business | 39 | |
| 15. | Love is Blind | 39 | |
| 16. | Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich | 37 | |
| 17. | The Haunting of Bly Manor | 31 | |
| 18. | 13 Reasons Why | 30 | |
| 19. | Shameless | 30 | |
| 20. | Emily in Paris | 29 | |
| 21. | The Last Dance | 29 | |
| 22. | Ratched | 28 | |
| 23. | Space Force | 27 | |
| 24. | Floor is Lava | 26 | |
| 25. | Lucifer | 26 | |
| 26. | Sweet Magnolias | 25 | |
| 27. | The Crown | 24 | |
| 28. | Evil | 24 | |
| 29. | Dead to Me | 24 | |
| 30. | Away | 24 | |
| 31. | Money Heist | 24 | |
| 32. | The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez | 23 | |
| 33. | Grand Army | 21 | |
| 34. | The Order | 21 | |
| 35. | Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous | 20 | |
| 36. | Cursed | 20 | |
| 37. | Down to Earth with Zac Efron | 20 | |
| 38. | The Legend of Korra | 20 | |
| 39. | Waco | 20 | |
| 40. | Riverdale | 20 | |
| 41. | The Last Kingdom | 20 | |
| 42. | Too Hot to Handle | 19 | |
| 43. | Fuller House | 19 | |
| 44. | Warrior Nun | 18 | |
| 45. | Altered Carbon | 18 | |
| 46. | 100 Humans | 18 | |
| 47. | Selling Sunset | 18 | |
| 48. | Never Have I Ever | 17 | |
| 49. | On My Block | 17 | |
| 50. | Dark Desire | 17 | |
| Source: Reelgood. The top 50 TV shows to make it to Netflix’s Top 10 daily reports from Feb 27 to Dec 9, 2020, rANKED BY NUMBER OF APPEARANCES. | |||