Netflix to maintain veil of secrecy over viewing figures
Netflix’s head of content Ted Sarantos has vowed to resist pressure to publish viewing figures for its shows. The reason being; it wants to maintain a delicate balancing act between holding onto the upper hand when competing with rival networks to screen new shows, then avoid treading on the same toes of those networks when seeking their permission to screen shows of their own.
This strategy has seen Netflix seek to muddy the waters as far as possible in order to both underplay its own success and keep rivals and the wider industry guessing.
Speaking to Fortune Sarantos said: “If I told you today that the shows on Netflix were watched at a dramatically higher rate than anything on basic premium or broadcast TV, that would be bad for our suppliers, because everyone would say, ‘Oh, my God, Netflix is killing all of television. And if I told you the opposite, they’d say, ‘Oh, my God, Netflix is going to die.”
For now that means keeping traditional TV networks sweet without showing them up by boasting of stratospheric viewing figures.