WHEN it comes to ratings, Netflix is stubbornly secretive.

The streaming giant doesn't release the viewer numbers of its shows and because they don't rely on advertising like traditional broadcasters, those number don't need to be made public.

In 2015, the company's chief content officer Ted Sarandos said Netflix won't release data regarding the viewership of its shows "for as long as we can".

Netflix has even thwarted attempts by third parties like ratings agency Nielsen to reveal viewing numbers. Last month the audience-tracking firm reported that the second season of Stranger Things was watched by 15.8 million people in the US within the first three days, making it hugely popular. Netflix - which had previously called Nielsen's Netflix numbers "not accurate, not even close" - rejected the measurement.

But it turns out Netflix will reveal its numbers for a good enough reason, such as brutally chastising obsessive devotees of its own Christmas movie.

According to the streaming giant, there are some very dedicated fans of A Christmas Prince, a Netflix original that debuted last month.

The romantic festive film, ostensibly aimed at teenagers, hasn't exactly received rave reviews, scoring 58 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.8 on IMDB.

The more cynical among us might think the snarky tweet was a clever way to market the film in the lead-up to Christmas.

But either way, it's some pretty good banter from Netflix.