We got a mixed earnings report from Disney this morning, but streaming was one bright spot. Between Hulu and its flagship service Disney plus, the company added 3.8 million paid streaming subscribers during its fourth quarter. 

But that’s the last read we’ll get on Disney’s subscriber growth. It’s following Netflix in keeping those metrics proprietary moving forward. 

Getting a read on what kind of media people are consuming has always been complicated, said Eleanor Patterson, a professor of media studies at Auburn University. 

When TV ratings came on the scene, she said companies tracked the viewing habits of households with cable subscriptions and extrapolated from there.

“How do you capture a group of teenage women watching dancing with the stars in their dorm common,” Patterson said.

Or 50 people watching the same football game at a bar. In the age of streaming, it’s a lot easier for media companies to track how many viewers they have and exactly what content those viewers are drawn to. 

“I’m logged in to a service. They can see how many people are watching something instantly,” Patterson said.

But streamers don’t have to share any of that data with the rest of us, and increasingly, they’re choosing not to. According to Disney, subscriber numbers are “less meaningful” to evaluating the success of its streaming businesses than they used to be. 

“Once a metric stops looking as sweet as it once did it becomes less relevant than it once did. It’s funny how that works,” said Ross Benes, a senior analyst with EMarketer. 

He said in the growth-at-all-costs stage of the early streaming wars, it was advantageous for some streamers to share a running tally of subscriber growth. 

“Because that was a positive story for them. You know, look the other way that we’re losing all this money. Focus on that we’re gaining viewers at an impressive clip,” Benes said.

Streamers are no longer trying to get in front of as many viewers as possible. They’re trying to sell ads. 

“Yeah, I think it’s a big opportunity. Some of these platforms have grown quite considerably and now they’re looking at the next business opportunity,” said Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president at Nielsen. 

Advertisers care less about overall subscriber numbers than viewership numbers for particular shows. And that’s data gathered by third-party ratings companies like Nielsen. 

So, if it sounds like streamers have moved the goal post, that’s because they have.