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The Fallacy of the Streaming ‘Co-Exclusive’

Examining the trendy, largely one-sided economic arrangement pervading the streaming space.

When Young Sheldon debuted on Netflix in December as part of a “co-exclusive” arrangement between the streamer and the show’s owner Warner Bros., it scored 963 million minutes watched in its first week, and doubled to 1.8 billion minutes in the second—some 20x the minutes watched on Max the week before.
When Young Sheldon debuted on Netflix in December as part of a “co-exclusive” arrangement between the streamer and the show’s owner Warner Bros., it scored 963 million minutes watched in its first week, and doubled to 1.8 billion minutes in the second—some 20x the minutes watched on Max the week before. Photo: Bill Inoshita/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Julia Alexander
January 10, 2024

I probably don’t need to tell you that Young Sheldon is popular. The series was averaging 7.15 million weekly viewers on CBS last March—not bad for a sitcom in its seventh year. Its success on Max is a little more clouded without data, but considering The Big Bang Theory has charted on Nielsen’s Top 10 for Max, the recommendation algorithm likely spills over to its spinoff. But when Young Sheldon debuted on Netflix in December as part of a “co-exclusive” arrangement between the streamer and the show’s owner Warner Bros., it scored 963 million minutes watched in its first week, and doubled to 1.8 billion minutes in the second—some 20x the minutes watched on Max the week before, according to ratings journalist TV Grim Reaper.