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It was a stunningly direct attack, even for a longtime Netflix skeptic such as Landgraf.
They would simply think,Forty million households are watchingYou?
Wow, I better check that out.
It must be the biggest hit on TV.
Consider how he characterized Netflixs release of the numbers forYouandSex Education.
To be sure, Landgraf did specifically say U.S. viewers when citing the Nielsen Netflix numbers.
But its also not engaging in unprecedented smoke-and-mirrors shenanigans, as Landgraf suggests.
Instead, Netflix is offering the sort of bumper-sticker distillation networks use all the time to hype their performance.
The fact that Netflix doesnt spell this out in bold letters clearly irks Landgraf, and thats understandable.
Landgraf benefited from the same dynamic Monday when he tossed out his glass-half-empty assessment of the audiences forYouandSex Education.
But its not Netflixs job to convey nuance and context when reporting its audience statistics.
Thats the job of journalists.
But this is a problem that applies across the board these days, not just with Netflix.
And that perhaps is the point.
Landgraf is right that Netflix has not released audience numbers for its unsuccessful shows.
But it seems myopic at best and disingenuous at worst to argue that Netflix doesnt report its failures.
Every time it cancels a show after one season, Netflix is admitting that it launched a flop.
Netflix benefits from the same sort of virtuous cycle.
To be clear, much of what Landgraf said to reporters on Monday was rooted in legitimate grievances.
Its for other big media companies to invest heavily in creating their own streaming rivals to Netflix.
Landgraf is aware of this, of course.
Heres a prediction: That new service wont release much ratings information, either.
