The numbers for “Roma” are part of a growing number of glimpses into Netflix’s viewership. Looming competition in the streaming world, mounting pressure from entertainment industry players and tracking efforts from media measurement companies are coming together to push Netflix to open up.
Not having to share data has allowed the company to herald its critical successes while flops disappear from view. Nielsen’s growing attempts to publicly share Netflix viewer information could dissolve this mystique and level the playing field in the battle for talent and viewers at a time when Netflix still needs to grow.
Nielsen isn’t alone in trying to pull back the Netflix curtain. Other companies, such as the New Zealand-based Parrot Analytics, are attempting to capture a general sense of what’s popular on Netflix, using a variety of data including comments on social media and measuring traffic on torrents, an often-illegal way to download shows.
“Hopefully, we’ll get to the point where we are working closely with Netflix at some point in the future.” Netflix is also under increasing pressure from Hollywood talent to divulge more information, particularly as the service ramps up its spending on original content. One TV industry source, who did not wish to be named for competitive reasons, said that people who make shows for Netflix do get some data, such as total streams, but noted there’s much greater value in knowing how that stacks up against other Netflix shows — something the company doesn’t tend to share.
Google owns the database of human intention. Imagine that.