[NathanKP]

> If the TV networks had a clear picture of viewership, they would be more effective at negotiating licensing deals.

The TV networks are still stuck in the mental space of thinking of viewership count as a relevant metric because for them more viewers equals more value for ads.

But for Netflix the revenue they make is not advertising dependent so it doesn't matter whether a show has high viewership as long as it helps Netflix retain subscribers. A small show with a cult following that helps Netflix retain a subscriber for a longer period of time can be worth more money than a big box office hit that brings in a burst of short term viewership.

[pdshrader]

Agreed, for subscription models, retention is more important than number of eyeballs.

Still, it's a little ironic that in our move towards online television, where one of the principal benefits is more reliable tracking than the Nielsen ratings, we still find ourselves relying on surveys of two thousand families.