Netflix doesn't need to report ratings on their original series because they have no advertisers to impress. NBC thinks that's unfair, so at last week's Television Critics Association conference, they referred to data that suggests Netflix shows “Master of None” and “Narcos” had about 4 million and 3.2 million viewers respectively from September to December 2015 in the all-important 18-49 demographic. NBC's head of research Alan Wurtzel implied that Netflix viewers binge the streaming service's original series for a week or two and then return to their favorite tradition programming, which would mean traditional content providers don't have much to worry about. Here's the thing: Netflix says those numbers are “remarkably inaccurate” and asks why NBC would spend time and energy to “talk about our ratings.” They concluded with a jab: “Maybe because it’s more fun than talking about NBC ratings.”
Netflix can delight in vague statements like "this was our most-streamed show ever" without ever divulging any numbers. Meanwhile old-school networks like FX and NBC are trying to convince their advertisers that they are doing just fine and there's nothing to worry about. In typical old media fashion, the suits in charge would rather maintain the status quo for now and let their successors deals with the task of competing in a modern landscape.
