THE DEFENDERS: Netflix Divulges Interesting Data On Viewer Watching Habits
Did you know that the majority of Netflix subscribers start watching Jessica Jones instead of Daredevil season 1 and that the top lead-in program for Iron Fist is a Dave Chapelle comedy special?
Netflix vice president of product innovation Todd Yellin is revealing some interesting statistics regarding subscriber viewing habits for the streaming platform's Marvel shows. In separate interviews with USA Today and Wired Magazine, Yellin says Netflix is specifically using The Defenders as a test to see whether an ensemble crossover is worth repeating. Here's some of the more interesting revelation from the two interviews.
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The majority of Netflix subscribers start with Jessica Jones instead of following the launch order.
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The top lead-in program for Luke Cage is Narcos, Black Mirror and The Walking Dead.
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The top lead-in program for Iron Fist is a Dave Chapelle comedy special.
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Netflix organizes its viewers by "taste communities" (over 2,000 worldwide) and it determines what gets recommended to subscribers based on what group they're in.
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In Luke Cage's taste community are Stranger Things and Easy.
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Iron Fists' includes Grace and Frankie, 13 Reasons Why and The 100.
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Jessica Jones' taste community includes Master of None and Orange is the New Black, while Daredevil's includes Friends, Bloodline and Breaking Bad.
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Yellin explains that they purse through the viewership data to determine how to group shows. "So when something like The Defenders comes out, we’ll look at what percent of people we showed it to actually clicked play, what percent of people had to go and look for it when we should’ve presented it on their homepage at the top."
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Perhaps most interesting is the fact that only a small percentage of Netflix users have watched all four shows. Said Yellin, "What we’re going to be learning as a company from both the algorithm side and the content side is what happens when you pair up shows that aren’t exactly the same thing."
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In terms of direct correlation between the four shows, Daredevil and Jessica Jones most often lead into one another while people who watch Luke Cage (and haven't seen the JJ or DD) are more likely to jump to Iron Fist next. This surprised Netflix as they anticipated that Luke Cage's debut in Jessica Jones would lead to higher synergy between the two shows.
In case you were one of the many viewers left with several questions after watching The Defenders, here's the showrunner and cast addressing the most popular, lingering concerns.