Netflix CEO Challenges Streamers to Share Data; Will They Have a Choice?

This week, Netflix produced another heaping mountain of viewership data, and the numbers have some fascinating nuggets. One of the biggest takeaways was the popularity of British TV on the streamer, but there are plenty of other insights to be had. Netflix first began showing its viewership data to the public in December 2023, showing its confidence as the world’s largest streaming service. The company’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos once again called on other streaming services to be as transparent with their data, and in an age of consolidation they may not have any other option but to follow through on his plea for more clarity industry-wide.

Key Details:

• Netflix urged other streamers to share more data even before it began publicizing its viewership numbers.
• Disney has found itself in hot water with distributors for not being more forthcoming about the potential of its Venu Sports service to sap customers away from cablers.
• NBC was reportedly so angry with Warner Bros. Discovery’s clandestine participation in Venu that it went after WBD’s NBA rights.

Sarandos’ comments came at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York on Wednesday. He touted the Thursday release of Netflix’s viewership details for the first half of 2024 and challenged companies like Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery to follow his streamer’s lead.

“I don’t think we could be any more transparent than that,” Sarandos said of Thursday’s data dump. “I’m hoping that the other folks in the business will follow suit on that.”

Even Netflix’s numbers don't show everything, such as how much engagement or audience reaction online each title on the list generates. But no other service publishes more than a proprietary top-10 list of shows and movies that are doing well on their platforms, and a cynic might point out that these are little more than efforts to drive viewers to more popular titles.

Netflix has pressed other streaming providers to offer more of their data to the public before, and no doubt its efforts are meant in part to help show how much more engagement it gets than its rivals. But there are also reasons for other streaming services to adopt the policy of data transparency more willingly.

Will Transparency Be Thrust Upon Streamers in the Future?

Companies that offer streaming services might have no choice but to start being more transparent about their data in the future. Disney recently found itself in a heap of trouble regarding lack of transparency with distributors in the course of its defense of Venu Sports, a joint venture service that’s currently the subject of an antitrust lawsuit leveled by Fubo.

All along, Venu partners Disney, Fox and Warner Bros, Discovery have maintained that the service was intended to target customers who had already left cable behind, or never had pay-TV plans in the first place. But documents revealed in the course of the lawsuit proved that Disney’s own predictions showed a large portion of Venu’s customers were likely to come from viewers who canceled current pay-TV subscriptions in favor of the joint venture.

That revelation not only led in part to a judge blocking Venu Sports from reaching customers via injunction, but it also made other distributors justifiably upset. DIRECTV chief content officer Rob Thun told me in an interview that his company was deeply disappointed by the lack of transparency on Disney’s part in discussing where Venu’s customers would come from, and those feelings likely contributed to the carriage dispute that erupted between Disney and DIRECTV soon after.

Such cross-company relationships will only become more important for streaming services as they gain more opportunities to bundle. Streaming providers who don’t share their data might have a difficult time finding partners to bundle with and given how much streaming bundles can help reduce churn and boost engagement for the streamers that join them, that could be a serious problem. Streaming bundles are becoming increasingly popular as the price of individual subscriptions continues to rise seemingly without end.

Sharing of viewership data will help streamers see which titles are doing better on their competitor’s platforms, and which rival services are getting good engagement with genres that a given streamer might be weaker in. It’s the same basic idea behind the Disney+ Hulu Max Bundle; Disney+ and Hulu have strong kids and general entertainment libraries, but Max brings an amount of prestige TV and other content for adults that neither Disney-owned streamer could match.

More data transparency could also prevent cross-company rivalries from cropping up. The idea that media companies wouldn’t partner with others who refused to share data might sound petty, but companies have been known to take such opaqueness personally. Reports have emerged that one of the reasons NBC went so hard after a package of NBA rights is that it wanted to thumb its nose at Disney and WBD for not reaching out to include its content in Venu or warn it about the forthcoming joint venture.

As bundles, joint ventures, and M&A opportunities continue to crop up in the video space, companies will have to proceed with a foundation of trust in one another. The sharing of streaming data like Netflix currently does could be a big help in creating more of that trust, but it will require companies to stop playing their viewership cards so close to the vest.