Streaming services are under no obligation to release official viewing data for any content, something that HBO Max and Amazon have taken to heart by keeping it all to themselves, but the major platforms including the aforementioned duo, Disney Plus, and Netflix could be forced into revealing the full picture after the United Kingdom’s government decided to step in.
A recommendation was made by the country’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that streamers should publicly disclose the numbers generated by movies and TV shows that initially aired on public access networks with both the broadcasters and regulatory body Ofcom, and the government is in full agreement.
If the move is given the final seal of approval it would hardly force the companies in question to give the whole game away, but it would lead to projects like Peaky Blinders, Fleabag and the formative years of Black Mirror falling under the arrangement. Of course, the vast majority of titles wouldn’t be affected in the slightest, and in the grand scheme of things it won’t make much of a difference, but given how notoriously secretive concrete viewership data is, it could even result in less British programming being picked up for online syndication.
The fact of the matter is that Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and AppleTV+ are never going to distribute the viewing numbers for every single in-house original unless they really have to, which has opened the door for third-party analytics software to try and fill in the gaps. So it’s hardly going to be a game-changing development in the long run, even if a series like Peaky Blinders became a genuine international phenomenon thanks to Netflix.
Published: Jun 23, 2021 12:07 pm