Netflix exec balks at ‘Jessica Jones’ – ‘Master of None’ ratings data by NBC

Earlier this past week, NBC caused some waves at the TCA Winter Press Tour when they claimed to have some data as to how some of Netflix’s shows fared in the 18-49 demographic in the months following their release. For the most part, “Master of None” and “Jessica Jones” had good enough numbers to be considered solid hits, but neither matched the power of some of broadcast TV’s top-rated series when you look at their data over the course of a month rather than an individual night.

However, Netflix head Ted Sarandos wasted little time during his own TCA presentation today blasting some of that data, saying per TV Guide that they don’t even measure data in the way that NBC executives suggested:

“There’s a couple of mysteries in play for me. One is why would NBC use their lunchtime [panel] to talk about our ratings … Maybe because it’s more fun than talking about NBC’s ratings. The second is, the whole methodology and the measurement and the data itself doesn’t reflect any sense of reality of anything that we keep track of. That could be because 18-to-49-year-old viewing is so insignificant to us. I can’t even tell you how many 18-to-49 users we have. We don’t track them. It’s an advertising-driven demographic that means nothing to us. I don’t know why anybody would be spending so much energy and time and given what I believe is remarkably inaccurate data. … I don’t understand the methodology of it. The outputs don’t reflect any reality that we track.“

Ultimately, we feel like the Netflix model is this: If your show is bringing in subscribers / keeping old ones plus also generating buzz on social media, you’re probably not getting canceled. They want to keep shows that bring their brand attention, acclaim, and subscribers. It doesn’t matter what the demo is, as they are not advertiser-based.