Netflix is still mum on ratings, but Stranger Things appears to be a massive success story.
While you were busy seeking justice for Barb and I was Googling images of Dustin to make my new Twitter avatar, Netflix’s Stranger Things, a beacon of light sent from the ‘80s to distract us from the upside down bizarro world of 2016, is apparently the streaming service’s golden child at the moment.
I say apparently because there’s no way to know for sure whether the crazy, justified buzz surrounding Stranger Things is translating into record-breaking views. Netflix is about as vocal as those faceless monsters the Duffer Brothers created when it comes to shouting about viewership numbers.
A few days ago, Business Insiderpublished a post that indicates Stranger Things is on pace to become one of Netflix’s biggest hits. Based on word of mouth, that logic is hard to deny. When it comes to hard evidence is where it gets tricky. BI cites a company called SymphonyAM, which is using research methods independent of Netflix’s own analytics. According to BI, the startup says that in the first 16 days after its release, “8.2 million people watched ‘Stranger Things,’ which puts it ahead of all Netflix's recent releases except ‘Fuller House’ and the new ‘Orange Is the New Black’ season. It ranks before ‘Daredevil,’ ‘Jessica Jones,’ ‘House of Cards,’ and ‘Narcos.’"
Variety published a post today, August 25th, also citing SymphonyAM:
Ratings provided to Variety by Symphony Advanced Media reveal that the first eight episodes of “Stranger Things” make up the third most watched season of a Netflix original series to debut in the last year. Within its first 35 days on the streaming service, the supernatural drama averaged 14.07 million adults 18-49. Only season one of “Fuller House” and season four of “Orange is the New Black” drew larger demo audiences in their first 35 days.
How does SymphonyAM get to this conclusion? Here’s the explanation from BI:
It all starts with the smartphone, CEO Charlie Buchwalter tells Business Insider.
“ These devices are admirably suited to be meters of media usage,” he explains. “The microphones are very good, the batteries last longer and longer. And they are ubiquitous.”
Because of this, the smartphone is how SymphonyAM measures what its volunteers are watching. SymphonyAM pays people between $5 and $11 per month to have its app installed on their phone. So far, Buchwalter says they have built a representative panel of 15,000 people, which will be up to 20,000 by end of March.
I’m no tech insider, but these practices seem sound. Netflix, however, has disputed the company’s findings in the past. Specifically, the streaming behemoth sharply responded to an NBCU executive’s TCA presentation in which they claim they used SymphonyAM to uncover Netflix’s the heavily-guarded viewership figures and used it to make a case that linear cable is as alive as ever. Netflix didn't take kindly to that.
"There’s a couple of mysteries in play for me," Netflix content chief Sarandos said in response to NBC’s remarks. "One is, why would NBC use their lunch slot with you guys to talk about our ratings? Maybe it’s because it’s more fun than talking about NBC ratings."
A great burn. I wouldn’t be shocked if NBC was one of the “15-20” networks, as the Duffer have said in interviews, that passed on Stranger Things before it found a home on Netflix. Never forget NBC gifted Netflix Kimmy Schmidt.
To bring this one back to my original point, it’s very likely Stranger Things has captured the cultural zeitgeist, appealing to a general audience and blowing Netflix’s other genre shows out of the water. It’s also just as likely that either: A) These outside numbers are as inaccurate as Netflix says or B) Netflix doesn’t want or have to admit it if they are accurate. As of this posting, Netflix's only comment on the recent ratings reports were: “The focus of the ratings companies has really no relevance on us," according to the Variety report.
The bottom line: If it looks like a hit, it probably is a hit. Even still, question every and all polling data you see, and don’t take any shit from NBC until the peacock restores its former glory.
