The Infinite Dial® Reports · April 16, 2019

Netflix’s Bird Box Reached 32% of Online Americans; Over 84 Million People

By Edison Research

The characters in Netflix’s record-setting movie Bird Box may have had to shield their eyes to avoid certain demise, but the stats around just how many people saw the movie need to be seen to be believed.

New data from the most recent release of  The 2019 Infinite Dial Study by Edison Research and Triton Digital® shows that 32% of the U.S. online population age 12+, or more than 84 million people, have seen the Netflix film Bird Box starring Sandra Bullock, as of January 2019. The movie is still available for viewing, so that number will continue to grow.

Of the respondents who said they subscribe to Netflix, 51% said they saw Bird Box.

The 2019 Infinite Dial is the latest report in a series dating back to 1998 that covers consumer usage of media and technology, has tracked many new mediums as they develop. The Infinite Dial currently provides the latest research in U.S. digital audio, mobile, smart speakers, podcast consumption, and social media.

“It is impossible not to be interested in the reach of a streamed movie with no theatrical release that generated tremendous media coverage, memes, and online interactions. Bird Box proves that original, streamed, content can reach massive numbers of Americans,” said Edison President Larry Rosin.

The Infinite Dial shows that 53% of Bird Box viewers are women and 47% are men. Thirteen percent are age 12-17, 42% are 18-34, 29% are 35-54, and 16% are 55+. Sixteen percent of viewers are African American and 22% are Hispanic.

Quantifying just how many people saw Bird Box has been a topic of much speculation since the film premiered in December, 2018. Previous estimates for viewership of Bird Box range from 45 million worldwide accounts over the 2018 holidays, according to Netflix, to 28 million U.S. viewers in the first seven days alone, according to Nielsen.

How the study was conducted:
A total of 4,126 persons age 12 and older participated in an online survey between January 15 and February 4, 2109, to explore Americans’ use of digital platforms and new media. The survey was offered in both Spanish and English. Data was weighted to national 12+ U.S. online population estimates.

Edison Research has no business relationship with Netflix.

About Edison Research: https://www.edisonresearch.com/

Since its founding in 1994, Edison Research has conducted research assignments in more than 50 countries. Edison works with a broad array of commercial clients, governments and NGOs, including AMC Theatres, BBC World Service, The Brookings Institute, Disney, The Gates Foundation, Google, NPR, Oracle, Pandora, The Pew Research Center, Samsung, Spotify, SiriusXM Radio, and the Voice of America. Since 2004, Edison Research has been the sole provider of Election Day data to the National Election Pool, conducting exit polls and collecting precinct vote returns to project and analyze results for every major presidential primary and general election.  Edison conducts more than 100,000 interviews in a single day for this project. For the 2020 U.S. elections, Edison will provide exit polls and will tabulate the national vote across every county in the United States for ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and NBC News. Edison’s work in public opinion research includes an ongoing survey of Economic Anxiety in America, conducted in conjunction with American Public Media’s renowned Marketplace program. Edison’s industry studies The Infinite Dial (now in its 21st year) and Share of Ear® are two of the most widely-cited studies in the audio space.

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