Not long ago, obtaining viewing figures from Netflix would have been a mission worthy of the greatest spies and action heroes we watch on the streaming giant.
For years, it kept audience data a closely guarded secret, but slowly that has changed. The streamer is now signed up to the official audience ratings agencies in the world’s two biggest English language markets – Nielsen in the US and the UK’s Barb – alongside agreements in several other territories.
This week it announced a shakeup to its audience metric, switching the way it measures from "viewing hours" to "views". Does it matter? We should perhaps start by looking at Netflix’s relationship with audience metrics.
How did Netflix used to report viewers?
For much of the 16 years since Netflix began streaming in January 2007, not at all.
This occasionally veered towards “a little”, primarily when something did extraordinarily well – in December 2018, it took the unusual step of announcing numbers for Bird Box – the Sandra Bullock horror had smashed the seven-day viewing record with views on 45 million accounts.
How about the official agencies?
Nielsen has tried to keep up over the years. In 2014, it launched an opt-in measurement service for streamers, but no one rushed to opt in.
In October 2017, it launched its SVOD Content Ratings Service, but the service relied on audio data, was limited to households on Nielsen’s panel, didn’t measure mobile devices (where much streaming takes place), and only measured US audiences.
When Nielsen expanded its Streaming Meter to 14,000 households in June 2021, Netflix chair Reed Hastings was uncharacteristically positive: “They’re in a good place to referee how streaming is changing the US television landscape,” he told The New York Times, but the relationship remained frosty.
And what about the Netflix charts?
Netflix came out of its shell a little in May 2019 with the launch of its top 10 series/films charts, first in the UK then globally by February 2020. This expanded in November 2021 to four charts, for series and films in the English language, and those in other languages. Now we knew what was popular, but Netflix remained cagey with numbers initially. It also didn’t help matters by constantly changing how it counted.
Prior to 2020 it measured in views, with one view being someone who watched 70 per cent of a show. In January 2020, the platform switched to anyone who watched two minutes (“long enough to indicate the choice was intentional,” it told shareholders).
With the November 2021 charts, Netflix began routinely including audience figures, but with another change – now it measured by total hours viewed.
Pablo Perez De Rosso, Netflix’s vice president of content strategy, praised the new chart when he spoke to the Financial Times that month, but he summed up the views of many in the industry perfectly: “Nonsense. ... Cherry Picked. Unaudited. We’ve had a lot of feedback about our metrics over the years.”
Recently, things have improved dramatically, and we can cynically (but correctly) put that down to one thing – the launch of Netflix’s ad-supported tier.
With no advertisers to report to previously, Netflix never had a reason to release audience data, unless it had something to brag about. Those times have passed, and it’s no coincidence that the platform's agreements to report fully to both Barb and Nielsen were announced in October last year – the ad tier launched in November.
So what is it doing now?
Netflix has changed the way it measures audiences, again. It’s returned to views, but not the 70 per cent or two-minute rules. Now, one view equals "total viewing hours, divided by length of show". If a one-hour show attracts 10 hours of viewing, that’s 10 views.
It’s remarkably logical compared to some of the previous methods, but has meant a shake-up of Netflix’s all-time charts – the new metric is being applied historically – benefitting shorter shows with many viewing hours racked up.
The big headline is that previous all-time #1 show Stranger Things Season Four, with 1.84 billion hours viewed and a 13-hour runtime, aka 140.7 million views, loses top spot to Wednesday, which "only" managed 1.72 billion hours viewed, but was half the length, so had 252.1 million views.
Other shorter beneficiaries include The Queen’s Gambit and The Watcher, coming from nowhere to #5 and #10 respectively. Epics Lucifer and Inventing Anna drop out. The changes to the film chart are negligible due to the broadly similar length of films.
Netflix has also extended the 28-day release window it gives shows to qualify for the all-time lists to 91 days – probably a fairer time for an unhyped show to gain traction, but coincidentally also the length of a financial quarter.
That’s where we are this month, though it could all change again at the next shareholders meeting.
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Results
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
The specs
Engine: 4 liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors placed at each wheel
Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power: 1877bhp
Torque: 2300Nm
Price: Dh7,500,00
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Looming%20global%20slowdown%20and%20recession%20in%20key%20economies%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Russia-Ukraine%20war%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Interest%20rate%20hikes%20and%20the%20rising%20cost%20of%20debt%20servicing%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Oil%20price%20volatility%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Persisting%20inflationary%20pressures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Exchange%20rate%20fluctuations%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shortage%20of%20labour%2Fskills%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20A%20resurgence%20of%20Covid%3F%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Squads
India: Kohli (c), Rahul, Shaw, Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Vihari, Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Shami, Umesh, Siraj, Thakur
West Indies: Holder (c), Ambris, Bishoo, Brathwaite, Chase, Dowrich (wk), Gabriel, Hamilton, Hetmyer, Hope, Lewis, Paul, Powell, Roach, Warrican, Joseph
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
- Braun Strowman and Nicolas won the Raw Tag Team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro
- AJ Styles retained the WWE World Heavyweight title against Shinsuke Nakamura
- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
