Netflix has proclaimed that Bird Box, its thriller from Susanne Bier and starring Sandra Bullock, is a big hit. And now Nielsen is agreeing with the streaming service — even if their numbers and measurement methodology differ.
The ratings measurement company, which has been occasionally sharing viewership data as it unveils its own streaming content ratings, reports that Bird Box reached an unduplicated audience of nearly 26 million viewers within its first seven days of availability (Dec. 21 to Dec. 27).
That’s a tally specific to the United States, which may be why it’s a bit different number from Netflix’s assertion on Dec. 28 that more than 45 million Netflix accounts “have already watched ‘Bird Box.’” The streaming service later said that it only counted accounts in which at least 70 percent of “Bird Box” had been viewed, making that number appear all the more impressive.
Netflix rarely shares any meaningful ratings data, and its claims can’t be independently verified. But at the time, Netflix said the “Bird Box” viewership made it the “best first 7 days ever for a Netflix film,” and this is where Nielsen agrees.
Per Nielsen’s measurement, “Bird Box” reached nearly 3.5 million viewers on its premiere day — which was actually below the 5.4 million viewers that last year’s Will Smith Netflix film “Bright” did on opening day.
As for viewing volume — the average minute audience for a program — according to Nielsen, the highest single day of viewing for “Bird Box” was on Day 8 of availability (Dec. 28), with an average minute audience of 3.9 million U.S. viewers. And within the first seven days, “Bird Box” had enjoyed an average minute audience of more than 24.2 million viewers.
Nielsen also revealed some interesting demographic details about Bird Box. According to the company, Bird Box attracted a young, diverse, and female audience. The film’s highest concentration of viewers were age 18 to 34 (36 percent), while about 57 percent of the film’s audience was female. Also, nearly half of the audience (46 percent) was either African American (24 percent) or Latino (22 percent).
In comparison, among original Netflix series, Nielsen reported that the first Season 6 episode of House of Cards had an average minute audience of 2.9 million viewers during its first seven days of availability (Nov. 2—8) compared to 4.4 million for the Season 5 premiere episode.
