Netflix Reveals Viewer Data for Every Title: A New Level of Transparency

Netflix Inc. has finally decided to disclose to the entire world the number of viewers following its television series. On Tuesday, the company released data on the global viewership for every title available on its service, and this will be just the first in a series of periodic reports, as stated by Netflix.

According to Netflix’s communication, the political thriller “The Night Agent” was the most-watched title globally in the first half of 2023, generating a total of 812.1 million viewing hours. Following closely are the second season of the family drama “Ginny & Georgia” and the debut of “The Glory,” a South Korean series. Considering all seasons of a single series, “Ginny & Georgia” garnered the largest audience.

The Struggle for Greater Transparency

This Netflix initiative comes after a long battle between Hollywood unions and major film studios. Following two strikes, writers and actors have secured increased compensation for their work in the streaming field, and a portion of their earnings depends on greater transparency in viewer data in the United States provided by services like Netflix.

Now, the company is offering everyone—viewers, suppliers, and competitors—a unique opportunity to see what users are watching through the semi-annual report “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report.”

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos stated in a press conference that “over the last 16 years of streaming, a consistent request has been to provide more comprehensive data on the number of viewers.” The lack of transparency has created “a sense of mistrust over time” with creatives, Sarandos claimed.

The Evolution of Data Disclosure

For years, Netflix refused to reveal viewer data, and other major streaming platforms followed the same policy. Initially, the creative community in Hollywood appreciated not being subject to Nielsen audience ratings, which determine the fate of many live programs on cable and satellite television.

However, in recent times, writers and producers have criticized Netflix, claiming that the company was withholding viewer data to avoid paying more for highly successful programs.

The streaming platform has since started to disclose more information. Its reports include data on the number of viewers for some popular titles and weekly rankings of the top 10 movies and TV series viewed in English and other languages.

Netflix also publishes these rankings for individual countries, although it does not include the number of hours viewed. The top 10 rankings give the audience a fairly accurate idea of which programs are popular but do not provide data for the vast majority of available titles.

The Revealed Data

The data released on Tuesday covers more than 18,000 titles, including thousands of movies and TV shows that have generated between 50,000 and 100,000 viewing hours.

This transparency from Netflix represents a new level of openness and provides a clearer overview of what the audience is actually watching. It will be interesting to see how this disclosure will influence the entertainment industry and how artists and content creators will adapt to this new reality.

Netflix has shown a willingness to listen to audience demands and build trust with viewers and the creative community. The release of viewer data could be just the beginning of a fundamental shift in how the entertainment industry evaluates success and compensates artists.

In light of this new transparency, viewers will have a better understanding of which programs are popular and the opportunity to discover new titles that may interest them.