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Netflix and most other streaming services like Amazon and Hulu have historically kept their audience numbers secret.
But just recently Nielsen, a company that studies consumer behavior, was able to gather viewership figures for a few streaming TV shows.
At a conference in Las Vegas, Nielsen shared data on “Orange is the New Black” and “Better Call Saul” on Netflix and “Seinfeld” on Hulu. Lots of industry people dispute Nielsen's accuracy, but networks nevertheless use the information not only to set ad rates, but also to decide which shows are renewed and canceled.
For details on Nielsen's new data we called Amol Sharma, the Media and Marketing Bureau Chief at The Wall Street Journal, who broke the story.