"Jessica Jones" Averaged 4.8 Million Viewers Per Episode, According to NBC Exec

[CBR News]

Netflix viewing statistics are hard to come by, but according to an NBC executive, "Jessica Jones" averaged 4.8 million viewers on the service.


Full article here.

[MindofShadow]

Networks are gonna be in denial until the very end...

[TickTock]

Those numbers become more impressive when you factor in how young Netflix is overall, and then even more when you consider just how recently they went all in on original programming (about three years ago, or so, I think). Those numbers are about the same for The CW's top shows, which is one of the broadcast networks and has been doing this quite a bit longer than Netflix. And those numbers are DEFINITELY better than some of the lower rated stuff on the big four. I find it especially amusing that this is coming from NBC, though.

[Zero Hunter]

Networks are gonna be in denial until the very end...

Especially NBC which has been a complete mess for years now.

[Doodlee]

hope this bodes well for a renewal. itchin' for a 2nd season, already.

[solletaire]

hope this bodes well for a renewal. itchin' for a 2nd season, already.

From what I've read Netflix seems pretty adamant to have two Marvel shows a year... which becomes complicated for second seasons... But yeah, if this were network show with these kind of reviews and numbers?... I think it would have had been renewed by now...

I think it's really weird to compare number of viewers for a Netflix show vs number of viewers for a network show. The thing is, the shows on Netflix aren't judged by how many people watch them per week or per month. It's more like if there are enough interesting shows to attract monthly subscription. It's the quality of the overall library and not just one show that's being judged while network TV seems to be evaluated on a show by show basis...

For example, the positive buzz for Jessica Jones convinces you to subscribe, you watch an episode or two, but end up not liking the show (hard to imagine, but to each their own )... However, you find a bunch of other cool stuff and decide to continue your subscription; or even just not unsubscribe for whatever reason... Job done, Jessica Jones! ... If this scenario happened with network TV, it's much more likely you might not tune in the network until you hear about another TV show and you will not be counted as a viewer and will not help them sell commercial spots...

I am sure viewer numbers matter to Netflix as well but it's a bit like comparing apples and tomatoes... they're both fruit in the literal sense, but...

Also, it appears that during the initial release of a popular show on Netflix ~25% of viewer's TV time is devoted to following that show during the initial week. So, what happens when the frequency of these quality Netflix shows increases? 25% might not seem like much, but we ought to keep in mind Netflix does not include sports and news... not many lifestyle and talk shows yet either...

[kumagawa]

4.8 million viewers over 35 days? damn that is bad, plenty of cable shows get 2.5 million shows when they air and that's not even including +7.

I guess this is the reason why Daredevil got a 2nd season announcement the same month it was released while they have been silent with Jessica Jones.

As to Netflix being young maybe but it did have over 69 million subscribers at the end of September so you would think more of those would have checked out an exclusive show considering how few there actually are.

[dan12456]

Those numbers sound really bad considering how massive netflix is and how long the time period is. Too bad we have nothing to compare to, but Netflix has 44 million subscribers and I'm sure part of that 4.8 million is people watching it twice.

[Star_Jammer]

Netflix is more...at-leisure than cable TV.

What were comparable (same time-frame) numbers for Daredevil and other popular Netflix shows (Orange is the New Black, others)?

[LordRyus]

4.8 million viewers over 35 days? damn that is bad, plenty of cable shows get 2.5 million shows when they air and that's not even including +7.

I guess this is the reason why Daredevil got a 2nd season announcement the same month it was released while they have been silent with Jessica Jones.

As to Netflix being young maybe but it did have over 69 million subscribers at the end of September so you would think more of those would have checked out an exclusive show considering how few there actually are.

Well, to be fair , They where saying even before Jessica Jones came out a season 2 would be hard to do before Defenders since they're contractually obligated to have it out by a certain date (left unspecified).

[Osiris-Rex]

Those numbers sound really bad considering how massive netflix is and how long the time period is. Too bad we have nothing to compare to, but Netflix has 44 million subscribers and I'm sure part of that 4.8 million is people watching it twice.

So basically half the audience of Supergirl, despite every Supergirl forum having annoying people pop up and say how much better Jessica Jones is.

[solletaire]

4.8 million viewers over 35 days? damn that is bad, plenty of cable shows get 2.5 million shows when they air and that's not even including +7.

I guess this is the reason why Daredevil got a 2nd season announcement the same month it was released while they have been silent with Jessica Jones.

As to Netflix being young maybe but it did have over 69 million subscribers at the end of September so you would think more of those would have checked out an exclusive show considering how few there actually are.

It's 4.8 million per episode on average... That's pretty good, it's about what you'd expect for a decent TV show.. It's more than or about the same as CW's Flash and Agents of SHIELD, and CW's Arrow, so...

Also, CBS is a broadcast network, so I am sure the number of homes it reaches is way more than ~69 million that subscribe to Netflix. It's safe to say that the % of ppl who have watched Jessica Jones and subscribe to Netflix is far greater than the % of ppl who watch Supergirl and have CBS...

[solletaire]

Re Supergirl and JJ.... Can we please stop this competition of which show is "better"... There is really no need for a "winner", here as both are good in their own right and are very different from each other

As a comparison to other popular Netflix shows mentioned in the report via variety: "Aziz Ansari’s “Master of None” (produced by Universal TV) grabbed 3.9 million while “Narcos” grabbed 3.2 million during the same frame. Amazon’s “Man in the High Castle,” a show that Amazon has identified as its highest-rated original series, averaged 2.1 million."

Can we all find something else that's worth hating on now? Overall, it appears to me that Jessica Jones was a pretty successful show...

[Jntenzil]

It's 4.8 million per episode on average... That's pretty good, it's about what you'd expect for a decent TV show.. It's more than or about the same as CW's Flash and Agents of SHIELD, and CW's Arrow, so...

It's still comparing apples and oranges to compare total viewers of Jessica Jones in 35 days to live + same day viewers for network shows. The most recent episode of Flash rose from 3.5 to 5.5 million viewers with live + 7. I'm sure it might add a few more with live + 35.

Also, both numbers are pretty meaningless in this context. The number of new subscribers to Netflix in November would be the most important number to them while most broadcast networks are dependent on advertisers, and advertisers mostly care about the C3 ratings for 18-49 (the number of people that watch the commercials within 3 days).

[solletaire]

It's still comparing apples and oranges to compare total viewers of Jessica Jones in 35 days to live + same day viewers for network shows. The most recent episode of Flash rose from 3.5 to 5.5 million viewers with live + 7. I'm sure it might add a few more with live + 35.

Also, both numbers are pretty meaningless in this context. The number of new subscribers to Netflix in November would be the most important number to them while most broadcast networks are dependent on advertisers, and advertisers mostly care about the C3 ratings for 18-49 (the number of people that watch the commercials within 3 days).

Oh, I agree that the numbers are very hard to compare...

But the way you watch the shows on TV is completely different compared to the way you watch it on Netflix. With TV, ppl I think tend to watch a show the first week or so of when an episode airs. Netflix folks tend to binge watch the show within the first month or so. Trust me, the stats ppl chose these time frames for a reason... because it's when viewership is most comparable between the TV and streaming services

I also think the qualitative "buzz" generated for a show on the interwebs can influence Netflix and not broadcast/cable TV... as it might persuade ppl to subscribe to the service and browse other shows and stay on even if they ultimately don't like the show they initially wanted to check out... with TV, folks will just change the channel and not stick around thus missing all the commercials... Jessica Jones got almost universal praise

As I said lets not forget that the network availability across CW is different from Netflix.

And my final point.... something that many folks seem to forget is that Jessica Jones is for all intents and purposes rated TV-MA show, which can be a tougher sell... compared to the TV-PG rating for the Flash...

Again, I am not saying one show is more popular than another. All I am saying is the ratings for Jessica Jones? Not bad at all...