Netflix Shifts to Annual Viewership Report from 2027

Netflix has decided to swap its biannual viewership reports for a single annual data reveal, with this change anticipated to begin from 2027. The streaming company's latest "What We Watched" report, released on the same day as the quarterly earnings results, showcased "War Machine" as the leading film and "His & Hers" as the prime TV content for the first six months of the year.

This shift in the data release schedule follows Bloomberg's report of a significant decrease in viewership of Netflix's original series in their second seasons. However, Netflix dismissed these claims. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO, expressed that second-season viewings didn't exhibit any substantial change and argued that, given the company's broad reach and simultaneous release strategy, it was not unusual to see a drop-off from season 1 to season 2. Sarandos asserted that the decline in second season viewership had slightly improved in the current year compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, the most recent “What We Watched” report lacked specific viewership numbers for the platform's increasing roster of video podcasts, only categorizing them under the broader heading of "Other Shows". Despite not releasing specific viewer data for podcasts as the format is relatively new to the platform, Netflix disclosed that the company's internal data showed considerable daytime and mobile engagement.

Emphasizing the significance of engagement quantity as well as the quality, Netflix confirmed a change in the reporting approach. After unveiling the What We Watched report for the first half of 2026, the company plans to publish the report annually in the first quarter of 2027 to maintain focus on primary financial metrics, such as revenue and operating profit. Nevertheless, Netflix assures the continuation of industry-leading data release on title-by-title viewership as well as total viewing hours, inclusive of weekly Top 10 lists for movies and TV series across more than 90 countries.