Netflix released its quarterly earnings Tuesday, and said that its new show, “The Witcher,” was more popular than “The Mandalorian.”
- The data could be misleading, though, since it came from Google Trends.
What happened: Netflix shared a Google Trends chart that compared its newest show “The Witcher” with “The Mandalorian,” which airs on Disney Plus.
- Netflix also showed how “The Witcher” was more popular than “The Morning Show” on Apple TV Plus and “Jack Ryan,” which is from Amazon.”
Yes, but: “Yet the data is a bit misleading. Netflix’s included chart relies on global Google search data. That’s an issue when comparing Netflix hits to those of new streaming services from Apple and Disney, both of which only launched in the last few months,” according to The Verge.
Netflix’s data includes a global search since it’s available around the world. But Disney Plus, which launched in the United States last November, is not available everywhere yet, according to CNBC.
More data: Netflix has also changed the way it reports a “view” on its platform, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The company used to count a “view” after someone watched 70% of a given episode of a series or 70% of a film.
- Now, the number has dropped to two minutes — or “long enough to indicate the choice was intentional,” a footnote read in the report, according to THR.
- “The Witcher” — by these standards — is now on pace to have the biggest opening ever.