In January, Netflix announced that Bridgerton, its flouncy Regency romance, had become its most-watched original series, with 82m views in the first 28 days.
It was a rare disclosure. The aim was to inspire confidence that the company’s strategy of signing expensive deals with producers such as Shonda Rhimes was paying off. But metrics from one data start-up suggest flesh-eating giants garnered more attention than Bridgerton’s tight-breeched beaux.
Box office figures measure movie releases and Nielsen ratings cover TV shows. Streaming services only release selected viewership numbers. Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Netflix are keen to avoid disclosing information that might be useful to competitors. Judging which of their shows have been hits or misses is therefore difficult.