Nielsen is scanning 1,000 Netflix shows to break the streaming “black box”

The Nielsen ratings company is measuring Netflix watching to inform entertainment studios which of their shows are most popular on Netflix, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Nielsen has been promising to create such a system since last year, and now the company says it's up and running, with viewership of nearly 1,000 Netflix shows being monitored.

The system has been described as using Nielsen meters to listen for audio signals that signal when particular shows are being streamed. The system operates without Netflix's consent or cooperation.