After years of calls for streamers to provide details on their viewership, Netflix shocked the industry by dropping a comprehensive report of with details on the content viewers watch on their platform.
The Netflix Engagement Report released on Monday details “hours viewed” in the first six months of 2023 for all its movie and television series, including content licensed from outside providers. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos described it as a “necessary step” at this point to provide transparency for creators, media, and audience.
Sarandos explained that it did not serve the company’s interest to release this data in Netflix’s early years while the streaming category was being established and no other comparable platforms existed. However, Sarandos found that “unintended consequences of not having more transparent data about our engagement” created an “atmosphere of mistrust” which the company is trying to address.
Netflix’s decision to release this data may have been influenced by calls from Hollywood’s writers and actors to provide transparency, to establish what they viewed as fair compensation for their work. Sarandos disavows any connection to the strikes, saying that the “Engagement Reports” had been planned long before the strike, with updated data to be provided biannually going forward.
While the details are useful, Netflix’s report holds back on some details that would be helpful, by reporting only the “hours viewed” rather than the “number of viewers.” In addition, numbers were lumped together from the entire platform in all territories, rather than being broken down by country.
The report shows that 55% of all hours viewed were for original Netflix titles, with the remaining 45% for licensed content. This is a notable achievement for the company, which has invested heavily for years to create original content. The data also provides some insight into decisions on whether to continue certain series into new seasons. Up to this point, analysts who follow Netflix have had to guess the rationale behind these decisions.
See also: Netflix Viewership Data Highlights: What The New Report Does — And Doesn’t — Reveal About Streamer’s Performance (Deadline)