Netflix claims 'Umbrella Academy' has brought in 45 million viewers

Netflix has said that its comic book adaptation The Umbrella Academy has ben watched by 45 million member households in a raft of new ratings figures.

It’s also confirmed a second series of the X-Men-esque superhero series.

As part of its quarterly earnings report for shareholders, the streamer released figures for several other high-profile hits too.

Read more: McCann family unhappy with Netflix documentary

Period crime drama The Highwaymen, starring Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner, was watched in 40 million households, with Triple Frontier, the Ben Affleck action thriller, watched by 52 million.

Its documentary about the ill-feted Fyre Festival, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, was watched in over 20 million households, while nature doc series Our Planet, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, is said to have drawn in 25 million.

According to Netflix, it counts a view from a member household to be an account which has watched 70 percent of a show or a movie.

Read more: Netflix finally removes real disaster footage from Bird Box

But it has been criticised in the past over its viewership claims, as they’re currently not independently verified in the same way that TV ratings are.

Netflix boss Ted Sarandos said: “We’re going to be rolling out more specific granular reporting, first to our producers and then to our members and, of course, to the press, over time and be more fully transparent about what people are watching on Netflix around the world.”

The quarterly report also notes that 9.6 million more subscribers were added in the first three months of this year, bringing its total number of paying customers to an astonishing 148.9 million.