Dimension

and November, Symphony added tracking for high-profile,
critically-acclaimed streaming service shows like Orange
Is the New Black, Transparent, and Master of None.
For streaming shows, Symphony’s app tracks the number
of people who watch any episode of a particular series over
a 35-day period, then averages that total to determine a
per-episode rating. For example, Narcos averaged 3.2 million
viewers aged 18-49. Amazon’s Man in the High Castle,
which has been identified as the highest-rated Amazon
Prime original, averaged 2.1 million viewers.
Symphony is one of a few companies attempting to fill
the perceived gaps in how Nielsen collects viewer data.
And right now it’s going about it by forming a diversified
user base from which larger demographic information
can be extrapolated. “We have our own panel of around
15,000 mobile device users,” says Buchwalter, who also
notes that Symphony’s app works with cell phone and
Wi-Fi networks, as well as a GPS component to note
where users are accessing media, whether it’s “at home,
in the car, or in the parking lot of a Target.”
Looking Inside the Black Box
Frustration with Netflix’s secrecy about viewership numbers
runs deep among TV executives, and Wurtzel, however
obliquely, smashed the streaming service’s black box viewership
with his TCA presentation. To be fair, television
executives have long complained that Nielsen ratings
aren’t accurate and Symphony’s numbers are still in beta
testing, but given how long everyone’s been wondering
many people are watching Netflix and Amazon original
series, any data at all is eye-opening.
Symphony’s panel of about
15,000 mobile device users
tracks media consumption
where users are, whether
that’s at home, in the car, or
in the parking lot at Target.
Netflix, for its part, remains unconcerned. A company
spokeswoman declined to comment on the data Wurtzel
mentioned, but said in an email that “generally speaking,
these kinds of traditional ratings don’t matter in a world
where success isn’t measured by specific time slot. They are
especially irrelevant on a subscription service that doesn’t sell
ads. We measure success by subscriber numbers and hours
people watch, and we do release those figures quarterly.”
You could argue Netflix needn’t worry about ratings
because it doesn’t have to worry about setting advertising
pricing. But other subscription networks — HBO,
Showtime, or Starz, to name a few — receive Nielsen
ratings, which are a barometer of how their original
content is received. Those numbers justify the cost of
producing original programming. And considering Netflix
has said it hopes to double the number of original series
in the next year, it will be valuable to know whether or
not the company is investing shrewdly in content, or just
producing an endless stream.
Netflix’s Most Viewed Shows of 2016
by millions of viewers
Fuller House 8.79m
Source: Symphony Advanced Media
Orange is the new black 7.18m
Marvel’s Daredevil 3.6m
House of cards 3.26m
Marvel’s Jessica Jones 2.83m
unbreakable Kimmy schmidt 2.79m
F is for Family 1.81m
Master of None 1.27m
Narcos 1.14m
Grace & frankie 1.09m
12 DIMENSION