Netflix has been the subject of much online hype over the past decade. But the US streaming company’s viewing figures was always a bit of a mystery. In the UK at least, it’s now opening up.
Data from Netflix will be officially recorded by audience measurement company BARB from the 1st November, after the streaming giant agreed to sign up. BARB already collects ratings data for all major UK services.
From 1st November, audience measurement company BARB will report Netflix viewing every day at both a service and a programme level to clients.
From the second week of November 2022, BARB will then publicly report the monthly reach and share of viewing for broadcaster groups and video-on-demand services which account for more than 0.5% of total identified viewing.
Also from November, BARB will extend its weekly reporting of the top 50 shows to include shows across all linear channels and subscription video-on-demand providers.
As a result, it will soon be possible to see where Netflix stands alongside traditional broadcasters, and if the programmes and movies getting all the hype online actually translate to viewers.
Limited data until now
Netflix was once very tight-lipped about how its shows were performing. But as subscriber numbers fell, investors pushed for more detail.
As a result, Netflix began to publish its weekly top 10 programmes and movies globally and in each country. The top 10 is based on ‘viewing hours’ only. Until now, Netflix avoided joining official industry ratings measurements.
But some additional detail of how Netflix is performing is already out there. Late last year, BARB tapped into Kantar’s video-on-demand measurement system. This enabled it to gauge for the first time how online providers are faring. Importantly, this data became available regardless of whether the provider was signed up to BARB or not.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said Netflix was “pleased to make a commitment to [BARB’s] trusted measurement of how people watch television in the UK”.