It all started when Bird Box prodded Netflix to finally take off the blindfold.
Last month, Netflix let it spill that Bird Box, its post-apocalyptic thriller starring Sandra Bullock, had been viewed by more than 45 million accounts in the first week it was available to stream, making it the company’s most successful original film yet by that measure.
It turned out to be the first drop in a flood of viewership stats to come. Alongside its earnings report on Thursday, Netflix updated that Bird Box number and dropped new figures for You, Sex Education, Bodyguard, Élite, Baby and The Protector.
Why so chatty, Netflix? Once upon a time, all Netflix needed to do to recruit the biggest names in Hollywood was write a giant check. But as more companies like Apple and Amazon pour money into high-end original content, Netflix needs to prove its worth to creators beyond throwing wads of cash at them.
That’s why we’re hearing Netflix brag about about eye-popping audience numbers. It’s the company’s next maneuver to woo creators, all while throwing shade at the traditional media companies. With its new numbers, Netflix is hinting they can’t measure up.
Previously, Netflix was famously tightfisted about how many people watch its stuff. The creator of House of Cards, which was the Netflix show that put its original content efforts on the map, once said the company wouldn’t even share viewership metrics with him. Netflix has dribbled out popularity details in the past — it said that Bright last year was one of its most popular titles in its first month and that Adam Sandler movies have accumulated 500 million hours of viewing — but few of those disclosures include “here’s how many members watched” specifics.
Now Netflix can’t seem hold back. It also confessed numbers or projections about viewership in the first four weeks of release for:
- Bird Box — watched by more than 80 million households
- You, a stalker thriller series that originally aired on Lifetime in the fall — estimated to surpass 40 million homes
- Sex Education, a British teen dramedy show — estimated to surpass 40 million households
- Bodyguard, a BBC-World Productions series that has already aired in the UK and won a best actor Golden Globe for drama earlier this month — 23 million member households
- Spanish-language teen drama series Élite — more than 20 million member households
- Italian original series Baby — more than 10 million homes
- The Protector, Netflix’s first Turkish original series — more than 10 million households
Netflix’s new numbers are impressive but they all need disclaimers.
First, a point of constant irritation for traditional Hollywood companies: None of Netflix’s viewership stats are independently verified or supported by detailed data from the company.
(Excerpt) Read more @ CNET