It’s been a tumultuous year, filled with uncertainty, social distancing, lockdowns and travel restrictions with Nigerians finding ways to escape, travel and connect to the real world. And What We Watched 2020 – this year’s Nigeria viewing trends on Netflix – reflects those highs and lows.

This year, Nigerians watched more than triple the amount of their Netflix (in viewing hours) compared to 2019. At the start of the year (pre-Covid lockdowns from Jan – Feb 2020), Nigerians spent most of their ‘TV Time’ watching titles across multiple genres  – however, from March to July, romance, kids, anime, reality, fantasy and thrillers had a surge in viewing hours, with drama, action and comedy+stand up taking the top three spots of the most popular genres throughout the year.

However, the genres that saw the biggest boost in viewing compared to 2019 are fantasy, romance and K-Dramas which Nigerians viewed 4 times more than last year while musicals saw a jump in viewing by more than 1000%.  In the absence of live sporting events, many sports fans in Nigeria turned to sports-related documentaries on Netflix to fill the void in April, May and August 2020.

From Naija to the World:

This year showed that the world has an appetite for Nigerian content with titles made in Nigeria making to Top 10 lists in many countries around the world. The ‘most travelled’ Nigerian titles of 2020 include: Òlòtūré, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, Sugar Rush, Merry Men 2: Another Mission, It’s Her Day, Citation, The Mirror Boy, Last Flight to Abuja, The Set Up and The Delivery Boy.

Naija’s Enduring Favourites of 2020 

Throughout this year there have been some titles that Nigeria couldn’t get enough of. These series & films enjoyed the longest run on Nigeria’s Top 10 lists after their launch on the service in 2020. The titles range across multiple genres and include: The King: Eternal Monarch, Money Heist, A Fall From Grace, The Queen’s Gambit, Sex Education, Love is Blind, Always a Bridesmaid, Miracle in Cell No.7 and Project Power.

With so many great titles from Nigeria and around the world across multiple genres, here’s a roundup of the films and series by genre that Nigerians watched in 2020 (Please note these are in no particular order):

• ACTION: Nigerians love a good action title and in 2020, they watched 3 times as much action content compared to 2019. In a year when real life action and adventure were hard to come by, there titles showed muscle as the most popular action content in 2020: Warrior Nun: Season 1, The Old Guard, Extraction, Bloodshot, Project Power, The Losers, Bad Boys for Life, Santana, Black & Blue and Lost Bullet.

• COMEDY: Nothing beats the Nigerian sense of humor with comedy content watched almost 3 times as much as last year. The top comedy titles  include: Merry Men 2: Another Mission, Love is War, Sugar Rush, Coffee & Kareem, Hire a Woman, The Millions, Your Excellency, Holidate, Kasanova and Survival of Jelili.

• DOCUMENTARIES: Documentaries helped us learn more about the world through: Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Journey of an African Colony: Season 1, Skin, Becoming, Money Heist: The Phenomenon, World’s Most Wanted: Season 1, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich,  The Social Dilemma, The Last Dance: Season 1 and Sex: Explained.

• DRAMA: In 2020, Nigerians were glued to: Citation, Òlòtūré, Miracle in Cell No.7, Elevator Baby, Coming From Insanity, Lara and the Beat, In Line, The Set Up and Enola Holmes.

• FANTASY: Many people used Fantasy to escape to different worlds with: Locke & Key: Season 1, Jumanji: The Next Level, Cursed: Season 1, The Letter for the King: Season 1, Always a Witch: Season 2, A Choo, The School Nurse Files: Season1, The Protector: Season 3, The King: Eternal Monarch: Season 1 and The Protector: Season 4.

• ANIME: This year saw Nigeria watching more anime content (over 300% compared to 2019). Anime titles that piques Nigerian fans’ interest include: Castlevania: Season 3; Altered Carbon:Resleeved; Beyblade Burst Turbo: Season 1; Blood of Zeus: Season 1; Pokémon: Mewtew Strikes Back – Evolution; Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045: Season 1; Dragon’s Dogma: Season 1; The Seven Deadly Sins: Imperial Wrath of the Gods; Transformers: War for Cybertron: Siege and BAKI: The Great Raitai Tournament Saga.

• KIDS CONTENT: The kids had their own ideas of what they thought were the best which included: Feel The Beat; The Angry Birds Movie 2; The Willoughbys; The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run; Over the Moon;  The Boss Baby: Back in Business: Season 4; Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey; DJ Cinderella; The Main Event and A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting.

• ROMANCE: In a year of extraordinary hardship and sadness, Nigerians loved to love and watched twice the amount of romance content compared to 2019. The titles that keep the romance flame alive include: The Kissing Booth 2; Seriously Single; Love,Guaranteed; Operation Christmas Drop; To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You; The Princess Switch: Switched Again; Cold Feet; Rich in Love; A Wedding for Christmas and Always A Bridesmaid.

• HORROR: Those who preferred their entertainment a little spooky made it known with: Dracula: Season 1; His House; The Haunting of Bly Manor; A Quiet Place; The Babysitter: Killer Queen; Don’t Listen; Vampires vs. the Bronx; Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight; La Révolution: Season 1 and #Alive.

• THRILLERS: The suspense was raised with good Thrillers watched by Nigeria including: Fatal Affair; Spenser Confidential; Living in Bondage: Breaking Free; Money Heist: Part 4; Dangerous Lies; The Last Days of American Crime; Rogue City; The Delivery Boy; Earth and Blood and Sin City.

• SCI-FI: It’s always fun to see what the future might hold, and Nigeria watched plenty of Sci-Fi with: Snowpiercer: Season 1; Code 8; Into The Night: Season 1; Men In Black: International; Biohackers: Season 1; The 6th Day; Altered Carbon: Season 2; Star Trek: Discovery: Season 3; The Book of Eli and The Rain: Season 3.

• REALITY: In 2020, Nigerians chose to escape their reality to immerse themselves in others’ reality and watched over 400% more reality content  than 2019.  The most popular reality titles include: Love is Blind: Season 1; Family Feud South Africa: Season 1; Dream Home Makeover: Season 1; Too Hot To Handle: Season 1; Floor is Lava: Season 1; The Dating Game (Nigeria): Season 1; Get Organized with The Home Edit: Season 1; Million Dollar Beach House: Season 1; Indian Matchmaking: Season 1 and Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives: Season 1.

• K-DRAMA: This year, Nigerians have discovered their love of Korean dramas (K-Drama) which went up by over 400% compared to 2019. The most popular K-Dramas of 2020 in Nigeria include: Kingdom: Season 2; The World of the Married: Season 1; My Secret Romance: Season 1; The King: Eternal Monarch: Season 1;  My Shy Boss: Season 1; It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: Season 1;  Start-Up: Season 1 and Rugal: Season 1.