Here are the shows that dominated Netflix in 2020 — and one is leaving the streamer in January

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As 2020 comes to a close, ending a tumultuous year packed with pandemic lockdowns, at-home entertainment is one of the few industries that hit its stride.

Netflix (NFLX) was fueled by the shift to remote work and online school, and saw subscriber numbers surge by nearly 16 million in the early days of COVID-19. However, which titles dominated the app as users flocked to the platform?

ReelGood, a streaming hub app that hosts over 300 services in one location, calculated Netflix’s top 10 most-watched lists every day since the streamer began reporting that data in February.

Overall, there were over 190 different TV shows that made it to Netflix's daily top 10 at one point or another, the company said.

Ranking them solely by the number of times they were featured, NBC's “The Office” came out on top with 178 appearances between February 27, 2020 and December 9, 2020. In second place was the hit children’s program “Cocomelon” with 104 — highlighting the work from home shift as more adults found innovative ways to keep their children entertained.

(Source: Reelgood)
(Source: Reelgood)

Reelgood compiled a second list by incorporating each title’s ranking every time they landed on the top 10 list between February 27, 2020 and December 9, 2020. Titles that landed at the #1 spot were given 10 points, nine points for #2, eights for #3, and so on.

In this variation, “Cocomelon” and “The Office” still clinched the top two spots, respectively.

Meanwhile, October’s smash hit “The Queen's Gambit” jumped to third, while “Tiger King” and “Ozark” rounded out the top five.

(Source: Reelgood)
(Source: Reelgood)

The results showcase that while Netflix Originals do attract a substantial amount of viewers (80% of the top 50 TV shows were Originals, according to Reelgood), the most-loved shows were licensed series.

“The Office” is set to leave Netflix for NBC’s streaming service Peacock (CMCSA) on January 1, 2021.

“The Office” is set to leave Netflix for NBC’s streaming service Peacock on January 1, 2021
“The Office” is set to leave Netflix for NBC’s streaming service Peacock on January 1, 2021

‘The Crown’ a royal hit

Meanwhile, Netflix’s “The Crown,” which dropped its fourth season on November 15, set a new streaming record, according to Nielsen's latest streaming rankings.

Nielsen — which measures U.S. television viewership — said the platform’s users watched 3.36 billion minutes of the show the week of November 16, with about two thirds of that total focused on the latest season.

The last time Nielsen's streaming rankings were that high was the week of August 3, when users clocked in 3.01 billion minutes for “The Umbrella Academy.”

Alexandra is a producer & entertainment correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193

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