Netflix has released What We Watched in 2020 and it’s very revealing!

Some highlights:

• Searches on Netflix for ‘home baking shows’ went up almost 50% in March over February.
• There was a huge jump in viewing of stand-up between March and April (compared to February).
• Anime viewing was up over 100% in the US.
• Documentaries and reality TV were watched twice as much this year.
• Viewers also watched twice as much romance this year as in 2019.
• Viewing of foreign language titles was up over 50% this year (compared to 2019).
• K-drama viewing almost tripled.

Netflix concludes their report with a reflection on race relations:

“Most important of all, 2020 taught us to open our eyes. We saw this in the way we embraced My Octopus Teacher (about the importance of nature), Crip Camp (about the disability revolution in the 1970s) and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (about social justice). But it was most obvious in how we responded to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. In the three weeks that followed his death, viewing of titles that helped us better understand the Black experience in the US soared — 13TH was up 5000+%, LA 92 up 1300+%, Dear White People up 700+%, Time: The Kalief Browder Story up 500% and American Son up 270%. And Dave Chappelle’s 8:46 video, which was shared with the world by Netflix is a Joke, became THE top trending video of the year on YouTube.”

Here are Netflix’s top five shows in six categories:

My take: yes, like everyone, we spent much more time watching TV sports, the U.S. election coverage, Dr. Bonnie Henry here in B.C. and our many streaming services. We might actually be responsible for that huge rise in K-drama viewing! Here’s hoping 2021 is better — and let’s us break our dependence on our screens for entertainment.