Netflix Reveals Viewership Numbers for The Umbrella Academy, Triple Frontier, 3 More

The Umbrella Academy was viewed by more than 45 million member households in the first month of its release, Netflix announced in its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, alongside self-claimed ratings for the likes of star-studded action blockbuster Triple Frontier, the other side of Bonnie and Clyde story in The Highwaymen, David Attenborough-narrated docuseries Our Planet, and its Fyre Festival documentary. Netflix considers a film as viewed if members watch at least 70 percent of it, while the metric for a TV show is looser: at least 70 percent of a single episode. The streaming service is known for being coy with its ratings data, noting it doesn't have any advertisers to please.

In its first quarterly earnings report [PDF] published Tuesday, Netflix said that the Ellen Page-starrer adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá's comic book series had been watched by 45 million households in the first four weeks. Netflix didn't say what the average number of episodes watched was. The show was met with a slightly-positive critical consensus upon release — the first season commands a 76 percent ‘fresh' rating and a 62 ‘green' score on reviews aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, respectively — though we took a much more negative view of the series. The Umbrella Academy was recently renewed for a second season.

Starring Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal and Charlie Hunnam, the action thriller heist film Triple Frontier — from Margin Call director J.C. Chandor — was viewed by over 52 million households in the first four weeks on Netflix, the streaming service claimed. The Highwaymen, starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as two lawmen who are tasked with bringing down Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930s, is supposedly “on track to being watched by over 40 million households in its first month.”

Meanwhile, the nature documentary series Our Planet — which borrows the template of BBC's Planet Earth and its narrator, Attenborough — will be viewed by over 25 million households in its first month. Our Planet released April 5 on Netflix. Again, there was no clarification on the average number of episodes seen by members. Lastly, documentary film Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened has been watched by over 20 million households in its first month, Netflix said.

The new numbers come on the back of similar reveals last quarter, when Netflix said that Sandra Bullock-starrer Bird Box had been watched by 80 million households in first month. Back then, it also claimed that the psychological thriller series You, and high school drama Sex Education had been viewed by over 40 million households in the first few weeks, while Spanish teen series Élite had scored 20 million members.

Netflix is also set to use viewership numbers and internal data to power a new feature that will be tested within the UK in Q2 2019 (April–June), it announced in its earnings report. Members will see weekly top 10 lists of the most popular content in the UK across various categories. Netflix hopes it will make easier for users to choose what to watch. Depending on how the new test goes, Netflix will decide whether to expand it beyond the UK or end it after a few months.