Streaming portal - Netflix publishes data on the success of films
Netflix is becoming more transparent about the success of films and series on its platform. For the first time, the streaming market leader has published figures on how many hours thousands of films and series were watched in the first half of this year. Such reports are now to be presented twice a year.
While traditional television has a system of viewer ratings that has been developed over decades, streaming services often keep a low profile when it comes to information on the success of their programs. Netflix has been publishing a ranking list of the most popular titles for two years now.
This was the right approach for Netflix in the early years, as the company did not want to provide rivals with data, said co-chief executive Ted Sarandos during a conference call. However, this also led to mistrust on the part of the TV industry, even though more information was shared with producers of individual films and series. The publication of the information should dispel this. "It's actually the data that we use to manage our business," said Sarandos.
"The Night Agent" was the most popular series
According to the list now published, the first season of the series "The Night Agent" was the most-watched title in the first half of 2023 - with a total of 812.1 million hours. At the same time, Netflix qualified that although the figures provide an orientation, they are also relativized by the fact that series have different running times and films are generally shorter.
Sarandos emphasized that the publication of the data has nothing to do with the expansion of the advertising business, as the company uses standard industry procedures with other services to measure viewer ratings. Since Netflix introduced a cheaper subscription with advertising, it has quickly gained customers - and the streaming service could attract more ad spend from traditional TV.
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- Netflix, as the leading platform in the global streaming market, recently decided to provide statistics on the watchtime of thousands of films and series on their platform twice a year, starting from the first half of this year.
- Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive of Netflix, explained during a conference call that keeping the viewer data private was beneficial in the company's early years, as it prevented competitors from gaining information to potentially strengthen their own offerings.
- The series "The Night Agent" toppled the competition to become the most-watched title on Netflix in the first half of 2023, according to the data published by Netflix, with a whopping 812.1 million hours of watchtime.
- Netflix has been sharing a ranking list of its most popular titles for the past two years, but this is the first time that the media giant has revealed detailed viewer data, aiming to dispel mistrust in the television industry and foster greater transparency.
- Netflix executives emphasize that the increased transparency regarding viewer data will not influence the company's advertising strategy, as they will continue to rely on standard industry practices for measuring viewer ratings. The move could, however, potentially attract more advertising spend from traditional TV companies.
Source: www.stern.de
