Parrot Analytics Tracks Spike in 'Orange' Demand Following Netflix Hack

15 May, 2017 By: John Latchem

---

Data science firm Parrot Analytics is reporting a sharp increase in demand for Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” following hackers leaking new episodes online early, which could hamper interest when the fifth season is officially released June 9.

Parrot Analytics tracked audience demand for the series over a seven-day period after the breach and found that in the United States demand grew as much as 40% of the peak demand during series’ fourth season. By comparison, Parrot found that the trailer for the new season of “Orange” released in April managed to drum up just 24% of the show’s peak demand last season.

“The fact that stolen and leaked episodes are able to generate this much demand is significant,” Wared Seger, CEO of Parrot Analytics, said in a statement. “‘Orange Is the New Black’ has always been a strong performer for Netflix, and although we don’t believe they will lose any subscribers, we do believe it is likely that when Season five launches in June, it may not generate as much demand as did the prior seasons.”

Parrot’s proprietary system measures how much demand is being expressed online for a title in any country, on any platform, on any given day and in any language.

According to Parrot Analytics industry data scientist Kayla Hegedus, the spike for “Orange” mirrored the typical “demand binge curve” for a Netflix series.

“For digital original series where the entire season is released at once, we observe that they are hugely popular for two or three days before demand begins to decay exponentially,” Hegedus said in a statement. “We have seen this phenomenon for every SVOD platform, be it Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or elsewhere.”

According to Parrot Analytics’ 2016 Global Digital Originals Report, Parrot’s tracking of online audience demand registered “Orange” as the fourth-most-popular digital original series in 2016, behind other Netflix shows “Luke Cage,” “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” and “Fuller House,” and ahead of “Stranger Things.”

Demand expressions for "Orange Is the New Black" over the past year

 

Bookmark it: