Netflix, self-proclaimed industry leader in viewership transparency, welcomes the British Invasion
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos encouraged competitors to be transparent with data ahead of streamer's "What We Watched" report
Screenshot: Netflix/YouTube
Lack of transparency with viewership numbers is an ongoing complaint in the streaming space, but Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos doesn’t “think we could be any more transparent than” its biannual data dump, which reports number of views and hours watched per season on the platform. In fact, speaking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival, Sarandos challenged other streamers to follow suit, saying he is “hoping that the other folks in the business will follow” Netflix’s example (via Deadline). On Thursday, the company backed up Sarandos’ boasting with the release of its “What We Watched” report for the first half of 2024.
The major takeaway from the report is that Netflix is experiencing its own British invasion. The top four series (and five of the top 10 overall) are U.K. productions. Bridgerton (91.9 million views), Baby Reindeer (87.6 million), and The Gentlemen (75.9 million) are all expected hits, but the dark horse contender for the number one spot is the Harlan Coben adaptation Fool Me Once, which, since it premiered on January 1, has racked up a total of 107.5 million views (and 689.5 million hours watched) across its eight episodes.