The folks over at highspeedinternet have put together a map that purports to show which show available on Netflix was streamed the most in each state in 2016. What important sociological information can be gleaned from such knowledge? I don’t know. Probably not a whole lot, if we’re being honest. But everyone loves maps, so here, look at this one.
The thing is, Netflix doesn’t release viewership data, so this map is hardly official. In fact, it’s not really based on much at all. Here’s the explanation for how they arrived at their conclusions:
Our team took the top 75 TV shows on Netflix, cross referenced the shows with Google Trends data, and determined which series was most likely to be streamed on devices near you.
Just because a show is searched for a lot doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being watched, and it especially doesn’t mean it’s being watched on Netflix. Is it really surprising that people in Oregon would be googling “Portlandia” while the residents of Indiana are looking up “Parks and Rec”? Plus, what if something outside these supposed top 75 shows is very popular in one particular area? Maybe everyone in Washington is still obsessed with “Frasier,” and the fine people of Massachusetts are forever binging on “Cheers”!
Without more data there’s just no way to trust the accuracy of this map for anything beyond Google searches. Having said that, congratulations to “Scandal” for winning the most states based on these criteria.
SEE ALSO: RANKED: 23 Netflix original shows from worst to best
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