Netflix has reached an agreement with British audience measurement organization Barb (Audience Research Council for Broadcasters), which, along with BBC and ITV, also measures ratings for more than 300 other broadcasters in the UK. It’s the first time an independent party has been able to publish data on the performance of some of the broadcasting giant’s programs (considering UK households, of course).
Starting in November, the organization will announce the first numbers of Barb subscribers through its analysis software and other systems. The data can serve as a guide for journalists, advertisers, and competitors as to how much interest a particular piece of content is in a particular region. By the way, the timing coincides with the start of the fifth season of the royal drama The Crown (November 9), the flourishing of which will surely lead to positive numbers in Barb’s first statement to Netflix.
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Barb, whose service is based on Kantar technology, reports nighttime viewing of Netflix programs at the same time as other broadcasters (the morning after broadcast), after which it provides seven and 28 days of data. With this move, Netflix is going after public service broadcasters, linear channels and rival Disney+ service in terms of transparency.
So far, outside parties haven’t been able to see the full picture, with the streaming giant only occasionally reporting viewing data, or highlighting records for only the first few days of highly successful titles. This move clearly shows that Netflix wants to move towards more transparency, in part because it will soon offer a cheaper subscription package studded with ads.
