Netflix used to be secretive about viewership. Now it has a new top 10 website.
Netflix leads the streaming world with 213 million subscribers. Now the company is making it easier to see what they are watching.
The platform is launching "Top 10 on Netflix," a new stand-alone website that will showcase weekly global numbers for its most popular and bingeable content, the company announced Tuesday. The streaming service already has a Top 10 list, but the new site provides significant extra data.
"Top 10 on Netflix" will rank series and films based on hours viewed from Monday to Sunday of the prior week. That's a big departure from how Netflix has traditionally shared viewership data, which was to sporadically announce the numbers simply by adding up how many accounts watched at least two minutes of a film or series. The company announced in its earnings report last month that it would be moving away from that two-minute metric.
The new site will track both original Netflix content, including hits like "Squid Game" and "Bridgerton," as well as licensed content such as "Seinfeld."
The move is notable because until recently Netflix mostly kept its viewership numbers under wraps. And even though the data on "Top 10 on Netflix" aren't vetted by an outside source, sharing the additional info is a move in the right direction for the company.
The move is notable because until recently Netflix mostly kept its viewership numbers under wraps. And even though the data on "Top 10 on Netflix" aren't vetted by an outside source, sharing the additional info is a move in the right direction for the company.
As the king of streaming, Netflix (NFLX)'s moves can have an outsized impact on the market at large. Streaming data in general is still kept close to the vest, so it's possible that more transparency from Netflix could encourage other services to share more viewing data as well.
Also, with a public scoreboard for Netflix's offerings, it's easier to see what a winning content strategy looks like for the company. Letting consumers know what's popular could also benefit the business by driving more engagement to the service.
Pablo Perez De Rosso, Netflix's vice president of content strategy, wrote in a blog post Tuesday that the announcement is "an important step forward for Netflix, the creators we work with and our members." But he acknowledged that figuring out how to "measure success in streaming is hard."
"Traditional measures like box office or share of audience (which was designed to help advertisers understand success on linear TV) aren't relevant to most streamers, including Netflix," he wrote.
The company believes that "engagement as measured by hours viewed is a strong indicator of a title's popularity, as well as overall member satisfaction, which is important for retention in subscription services," Perez De Rosso wrote. "People want to understand what success means in a streaming world, and these lists offer the clearest answer to that question in our industry."
The "Top 10 on Netflix" may also silence some of the company's critics, who have groused for years about how the streaming giant presented its viewership data.
"'Nonsense.' 'BS.' 'Cherry Picked.' 'Unaudited.' We've had a lot of feedback about our metrics over the years," Perez De Rosso wrote. "So this summer we went back to the drawing board."
Netflix 过去对收视率保密。现在它有一个新的前 10 名网站。
Netflix 以 2.13 亿订户领跑流媒体世界。现在，该公司正在让他们更容易看到他们在看什么。
Netflix 周二宣布，该平台将推出“Netflix 前 10 名”，这是一个新的独立网站，每周将展示其最受欢迎和可狂欢的内容的全球数字。流媒体服务已经有一个前 10 名的名单，但新网站提供了重要的额外数据。
“Netflix 前 10 名”将根据前一周周一至周日的观看小时数对连续剧和电影进行排名。这与 Netflix 传统上共享收视率数据的方式大不相同，后者只是通过将观看至少两分钟电影或连续剧的帐户数量相加来偶尔公布数字。该公司在上个月的收益报告中宣布，它将摆脱这一两分钟的指标。
新网站将跟踪 Netflix 原创内容，包括“鱿鱼游戏”和“布里杰顿”等热门内容，以及“宋飞正传”等授权内容。
此举值得注意，因为直到最近 Netflix 大多对其收视人数保密。尽管“Netflix 前 10 名”的数据未经外部来源审查，但分享额外信息对公司来说是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。
此举值得注意，因为直到最近 Netflix 大多对其收视人数保密。尽管“Netflix 前 10 名”的数据未经外部来源审查，但分享额外信息对公司来说是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。
作为流媒体之王，Netflix (NFLX) 的举动可以对整个市场产生巨大影响。流媒体数据总体上仍然接近马甲，因此 Netflix 的更高透明度可能会鼓励其他服务也共享更多的观看数据。
此外，通过 Netflix 产品的公共记分牌，可以更轻松地了解公司获胜的内容策略是什么样的。让消费者知道什么是流行的也可以通过推动更多的服务参与来使企业受益。
Netflix 内容战略副总裁 Pablo Perez De Rosso 在周二的一篇博客文章中写道，该公告是“Netflix、我们合作的创作者和我们的成员向前迈出的重要一步”。但他承认，弄清楚如何“衡量流媒体的成功很困难”。
“票房或观众份额（旨在帮助广告商了解线性电视的成功）等传统衡量标准与包括 Netflix 在内的大多数流媒体无关，”他写道。
该公司认为，“以观看时长衡量的参与度是游戏受欢迎程度以及整体会员满意度的有力指标，这对于订阅服务的保留很重要，”佩雷斯·德罗索写道。 “人们想了解在流媒体世界中成功意味着什么，这些列表为我们行业中的这个问题提供了最清晰的答案。”
“Netflix 前 10 名”也可能让该公司的一些批评者保持沉默，他们多年来一直抱怨这家流媒体巨头如何展示其收视率数据。
“'废话。' “BS。” “采摘樱桃。” “未经审计。”多年来，我们收到了很多关于我们的指标的反馈，”Perez De Rosso 写道。 “所以今年夏天我们又回到了绘图板上。”
