For the first time Netflix will accurately detect the representations of the contents of its catalog and share the information with a third and independent organization. The experiment will start in the UK, but could soon be expanded to the rest of the world.
Netflix already tracks the performance of its flagship movies and TV series, but the data is shared in its sole discretion. Every once in a while, the giant will let you know that a certain TV series or a certain original movie has broken a new record, but that’s where the news flow stops.
The news is that Netflix is now a member of the barban agency of British audience. The same one that determines the number of viewers connected in front of the TV. For the first time, Netflix viewer data is independently collected, reviewed and reported.
The lack of open and publicly available parameters about the success (and failure) of the content of the VoD platforms has been a topic of discussion for many years. It’s unique to the entertainment industry: we knew the number of music albums sold and now the number of streaming reproductions; we have the box office numbers of movies; from the TV series and variety shows we basically have the audience surveys and so on. In short, the platforms for the streaming on demand they were the only ones without a clear thermometer to help us understand the progress of each individual product.
For the general public, this lack translated trivially into an unresolved curiosity. On the contrary, it was a big problem for the insiders: it had become increasingly difficult for the producers of TV series and movies to make informed choices about which products to finance or not.
Netflix has now become an undisputed star in the living rooms of British viewers. It is used by about two-thirds of the British television audience, with an audience on average 8%. More than Channel 4 or Sky.
Source: Lega Nerd
