Netflix Signs Up to BARB

Netflix has signed up to U.K. TV ratings measurement service BARB.

The ratings agency enhanced its daily audience reporting last year to include aggregate-level viewing for SVOD, AVOD and video-sharing platforms, as well as content ratings for shows on the leading SVOD services. Beginning in the second week of November, BARB will publicly report the monthly reach and share of viewing for broadcaster groups and SVOD/AVOD services that account for more than 0.5 percent of total identified viewing. BARB will also extend its weekly reporting of the top 50 shows to include titles across all linear channels and SVOD service providers. From November 1, BARB will report Netflix viewing every day at both a service and a program level to its clients, alongside its 300 other subscribing broadcast channels, BVOD, AVOD and SVOD.

BARB notes that while the streamers have seen gains, broadcasters’ linear channels and on-demand services accounted for around two-thirds of all identified viewing this year. As of September 2022, the average daily viewing time to broadcasters’ services was 159 minutes, with the SVOD/AVOD services averaging 36 minutes per day.

Reed Hastings, co-CEO of Netflix, noted, “Back in 2019, at the RTS conference in Cambridge, I welcomed the idea of Netflix audiences being measured independently. We’ve kept in touch with BARB since then and are pleased to make a commitment to its trusted measurement of how people watch television in the U.K.”

Justin Sampson, chief executive of BARB, added, “Our audience measurement continuously adapts to accommodate the new platforms and devices that are being used by people to watch their favorite television shows. We took a big step forward last year when we started reporting audiences to streaming services. Netflix’s commitment to BARB sends a clear signal that what we’re doing is valuable to new and established players in the market.”