When I first joined Netflix, it was about finding movies unavailable to me otherwise, but I’ve since cancelled the discs and now use the company for TV binging and late night sleep aids. I’ve definitely taken advantage of the original series that Netflix has delivered to audiences, including Orange is the New Black and House of Cards, but it appears I could be in the minority on that front. At least, according to a new polled study reported by research firm Centris Marketing Science (via Variety).
With their results, Centris found that less than half of Netflix’s current subscribers have actually watched its two most popular original series. They’ve determined that around 44% of Netflix users have watched Orange is the New Black’s prison-set drama, while only 31% have put their peepers on House of Cards’ increasingly warped story of politics and egos. It doesn’t appear to be an issue of ignorance, though, as 89% are aware of Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright’s White House drama and 94% know that OITNB exists. To balance that off, 72% of the non-Netflix crowd knew what either series was.)
Now, let’s make something extremely clear here. Centris (who gave themselves a 4.1% margin of error) only polled 562 households from July 17-20.
Yeah, these numbers aren’t exactly representative of the entirety of Netflix streamers, and a buttload of extrapolation had to be done. But when it comes to Netflix, extrapolation is all there is, as the company is not up front at all about their viewer totals, and they don’t allow other companies to peek either. It’s no mystery how many critics are watching, however, as both series have been magnets for award show recognition. For this year’s Emmys, House of Cards is up for 13 awards, while Orange is the New Black is right behind it with twelve nominations.
Because it’s also a subscriber-based platform with acclaimed series, Netflix sees itself as a critical competitor of HBO, in a lighthearted way of course. CEO Reed Hastings recently took to Facebook to talk about their profits compared to the cable giant.
Post by Reed Hastings.
Game of Thrones is HBO’s ratings juggernaut, with Season 4 bringing in an average topping 18 million weekly viewers, which is around 66% of HBO’s total viewership. However, the fantasy epic’s second season was closer to Centris’ percentage averages, with around 41% of its subscribers tuning in. So it’s quite possible that, going into their third seasons next year, both House of Cards and Orange is the New Black will top Game of Thrones’s averages Season 3, which were still as good or better than most shows on TV.
Have you guys watched these Netflix originals, or do you just stream Lost episodes over and over again?
