FX Boss John Landgraf Rips Apart Netflix’s Own Viewership Information: ‘Not Remotely Accurate’

FX boss John Landgraf tore Netflix for bragging about its evaluations, saying that the watcher information that it has as of late discharged for its programming is “not remotely accurate” and “one way or another, the truth will come out — as it always does.”

“Speaking of blurry lines, recently, Netflix has selectively begun to release some viewership numbers for a few of their successful original programs,” Landgraf told reporters amid his executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour on Monday. “The source of those numbers: Netflix. And what do you know? The numbers look really big and promote the notion that many shows on their platform are gigantic hits that are watched more than shows on broadcast or basic cable.”

He at that point gave some “truth” as Nielsen numbers that negate what the streamer has been putting forth up on Twitter as of late.

A month ago, Netflix tweeted that previous Lifetime series “You” — which has moved to the streamer for its forthcoming second season — was on track to be seen by more than 40 million member households before the finish of its initial a month on the service.

“Sounds like they have a huge hit on their hands,” Landgraf says. “However, if you dig a little deeper, Netflix is not telling you the whole story because the numbers they issue do not follow the universally-understood television metric, the one you and prior generations of reporters have been using through their whole careers, which is average audience. Many Silicon Valley companies have long used various metrics based on video use or video starts which inflates their perceived usage and is not a remotely accurate representation of a long-form programs performance.”

The FX boss at that point uncovered that “using the traditional measurement metric average audience, which is calculated by adding up every minute viewed of an episode by season and dividing it by the total duration of the program,” “You” wound up averaging one-fifth of that altogether U.S. watchers per episode amid its first month on Netflix or around 8 million by and large sets of eyeballs an episode.

“Good, but not an average of 40 million viewers,” Landgraf said.

At the point when Netflix discharged its viewership projections for “You,” it additionally gave a similar 40 million watcher gauge for its new show “Sex Education’s” first month on the service. Landgraf says that information wound up being much progressively overstated.

“I just genuinely believe that the rules should be made as a common good by everyone. They have to be negotiated,” Landgraf said, adding that “Silicon Valley’s attitude just really, really bothers me.”

Landgraf likewise uncovered amid the board that Noah Hawley’s “Legion” will finish with its up and coming third season and that he anticipates “many more cycles” of Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story” and “American Crime Story,” despite the fact that the prolific producer has proceeded onward to his new home Netflix, in the wake of marking a $100 million by and large deal with the streamer.