This data explains why Netflix’s binge-watching formula works so well

Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos noted the “precious nature of primetime slots on traditional TV” and the importance of the pilot, or first, episode.

House of Cards is back for a third season. Since Vincent D’Onofrio’s Fisk is kept largely in the shadows until episodes 4 and 5 of “Daredevil“, and Netflix data says episode 5 hooked fans, it can be assumed that D’Onofrio’s intense portrayal of the Hell’s Kitchen crime boss is a huge component of what made Season 1 a success. Binge-watching is the technical term. The episode varied by series. All According to Netflix, the eighth episode of “How I Met Your Mother” – entitled “The Duel” – is the one that hooks viewers. The notion that it may take several episodes for a show to gain traction is anathema at networks, where the clock starts to tick as soon as a pilot airs, and pressure is on to cancel any series that isn’t immediately performing.

That’s according to data shared by Netflix, which pinpoints the exact moment in each of its most popular shows that we were converted into fans. The study didn’t identify patterns to explain why some shows took longer to get people binging than others. Pilots are the most important episode in a series creation, because its often what determines if an idea makes it to series at all.

Slow burner Mad Men unsurprisingly takes a few more episodes than the other shows listed to get viewers committed, hooking audiences after a full 6 episodes. However… we found that no one was ever hooked on the pilot. Germans were early fans of Arrow; and France fell for How I Met Your Mother early on.

Netflix’s freakish original series about show business and depression as seen through the eyes of an anthropomorphic horse (voiced by Will Arnett) notoriously took people some time to sink their teeth into. No one knows I watched all nine seasons of One Tree Hill in eight sleepless days, you whisper to yourself.

The subscription on-demand streaming service, which is notorious for not releasing viewership numbers for its content, offered a morsel of insight into consumption habits of its service by revealing when viewers became intrigued with Don Draper and his co-workers of “Mad Men” or when what sneaky deed on “House of Cards” had folks clicking for more.

The series’ episode is similar to “Breaking Bad” or “Better Call Saul” in that it sets up a format that the series would use for years to come: an A-story that involves most of the characters, and something silly for Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) to do.

Sarandos said the ability to binge-watch programming has likely had an impact on conventional networks, which are now giving shows more time to build followings.