From November 1, BARB will report Netflix viewing every day at both a service and a programme level to its clients.
Netflix has joined the UK audience measurement company BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) audience panel, the first time the streamer has signed up to an industry-owned TV measurement currency anywhere in the world.
The move comes less than a year after BARB included streaming services alongside linear broadcasting as part of its “gold standard” reporting of viewing in UK homes. Daily reporting now includes aggregate-level viewing to SVOD/AVOD and video-sharing platforms, as well as content ratings for shows on the leading SVOD services.
In November 2021, BARB introduced what it called a ‘once-in-a-generation’ upgrade of its daily audience reporting allowing streaming services to be an integral part of its reporting of what people watch across linear and on-demand services.
Looking at the market as a whole, BARB noted that while Netflix and other streaming services have clearly established themselves within the television-viewing ecosystem, broadcasters continue to account for the lion’s share of viewing in the UK. it added that across 2022, broadcasters’ linear channels and on-demand services have accounted for around two-thirds of all identified viewing, while advertising/subscription video-on-demand (AVOD/SVOD) services comprise about a sixth of all viewing. The average daily viewing time to broadcasters’ services was 159 minutes in September 2022, and the average for SVOD/AVOD services was 36 minutes per day.
From the second week of November 2022, BARB will publicly report the monthly reach and share of viewing for broadcaster groups and SVOD/AVOD services which currently account for more than 0.5% of total identified viewing. For viewing from 1 November, BARB will report Netflix viewing every day at both a service and a programme level to its clients. This will be in the same way it reports viewing for over 300 other subscribing broadcast channels, broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) and AVOD/SVOD services. Netflix viewing data will be available to all BARB clients on the morning of 2 November through existing viewing analysis software and data-processing bureaux.
Commenting on becoming part of the BARB ecosystem, Reed Hastings, co-CEO of Netflix, said: “Back in 2019, at the RTS conference in Cambridge, I welcomed the idea of Netflix audiences being measured independently. We’ve kept in touch with BARB since then and are pleased to make a commitment to its trusted measurement of how people watch television in the UK.”
Justin Sampson, Chief Executive of BARB, added: “Our audience measurement continuously adapts to accommodate the new platforms and devices that are being used by people to watch their favourite television shows. We took a big step forward last year when we started reporting audiences to streaming services. Netflix’s commitment to BARB sends a clear signal that what we’re doing is valuable to new and established players in the market.”
