Netflix has done away with the “monthly active users (MAU)” metric, which is widely used across ad-supported streaming, and has switched to capturing viewership as “monthly active viewers (MAV),” which it defines as subscribers watching at least one minute of ads on Netflix per month, multiplied by how many people are watching in a given household. “Our move to viewers means we can give a more comprehensive count of how many people are actually on the couch, enjoying our can’t-miss series, films, games and live events with friends and family,” the company explained in a blog post, via Deadline.
With a new metric comes a new viewership milestone, as Netflix has reported that it now reaches more than 190 million MAVs on its ad-supported tier. Given the metric change, it’s hard to know exactly how big a jump that is from the 94 million MAUs Netflix stated it had back in May, although the streamer did note that MAUs were tied to account profiles and therefore undercounted co-viewing, a factor that the new MAV metric addresses.
Netflix Has Offered an Ad-Tier Since 2022
Netflix remains the biggest streaming service in the world, with an estimated 302 million subscribers. Despite facing stiffer competition now than it did during its first decade as a streaming service, Netflix has continued to grow its subscriber base by offering several crowd-pleasing and/or award-winning original series like House of Cards, Stranger Things, The Witcher, and Squid Game. The company has also been able to attract top-tier talent to its platform, such as television powerhouses Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Bridgerton) and Ryan Murphy (Glee, Monster, Ratched).
Upcoming movies that Netflix subscribers will want to keep an eye out for include the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel The Adventures of Cliff Booth, Greta Gerwig’s Narnia reboot The Magician’s Nephew, and Brad Bird’s long-gestating animated passion project Ray Gunn. On the TV side, subscribers have new seasons of Stranger Things, Virgin River, Outer Banks, and Bridgerton to look forward to, as well as a live-action take on Scooby-Doo, a new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie, and an Assassin’s Creed series.