NPR recently reported on Symphony Advanced Media, the recently-formed research company that gathers data by detecting programs via its panelists’ mobile devices’ microphones. It is seen as an alternative to Nielsen Media Research, the ratings company that has measured the audience figures for television since the 1950s.
Symphony has been most useful in tracking over-the-top content like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.
NBCUniversal senior vice president of research Alan Wurtzel uses Symphony data. “Folks have migrated to watching a great deal of video content on non-Nielsen-measured devices, like smartphones, like tablets,” Wurtzel said to NPR. “And when you reaggregate all those numbers they basically come right back to where they’ve always been.”
Here are the Top 10 Netflix original series of the past year based on Symphony’s figures of total viewership (aged 18 to 49 years) on the first 35 days of each series’ season premiere date. (Source: NPR)
| * Viewers in millions | ||||
| RANK | PROGRAM | SEASON | RELEASE | A18-49* (RATING) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orange is the New Black | 4 | June 17, 2016 | 15.9 (11.52) |
| 2 | Fuller House | 1 | Feb. 25, 2016 | 15.7 (11.31) |
| 3 | Stranger Things | 1 | July 15, 2016 | 14.3 (10.36) |
| 4 | Making A Murderer | 1 | Dec. 18, 2015 | 13.4 (9.65) |
| 5 | Marvel’s Luke Cage | 1 | Sep. 30, 2016 | 12.0 (8.69) |
| 6 | Marvel’s Daredevil | 2 | Mar. 18, 2016 | 8.3 (6.03) |
| 7 | Marvel’s Jessica Jones | 1 | Nov. 20, 2015 | 6.3 (4.52) |
| 8 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | 2 | Apr. 15, 2016 | 6.1 (4.39) |
| 9 | House of Cards | 4 | Mar. 4, 2016 | 5.7 (4.10) |
| 10 | F is for Family | 1 | Dec. 18, 2015 | 4.8 (3.47) |
(Note: The ratings and viewership for “Luke Cage” are not finalized due to the program’s recent release.)
