Daredevil season 3's viewership was less than half that of season 2 in its first week. That's according to viewing figures provided exclusively to Screen Rant, which indicate just how the Marvel Netflix shows are really performing on the streaming service.

Netflix considers their viewing figures to be a closely-guarded secret. In the absence of firm data, though, certain analytics companies have stepped forward to offer unique insight into the popularity of various Netflix series. Screen Rant has spoken exclusively to Jumpshot, a San Francisco-based analytics company. Their anonymized global panel tracks five billion actions a day across 100 million devices to deliver insights into online consumer behavior. They've been monitoring the Netflix Originals since 2016, looking at the viewing behavior and activity of their US members. While Jumpshot's data does have limitations - most notably that this only covers US audiences - it does still give a sense of just what's going on with the Marvel Netflix shows. Early this week we reported that Iron Fist and Luke Cage's second seasons suffered a massive drop in viewership, now we look at the Devil of Hell's Kitchen

Related: What To Expect In Daredevil Season 4

According to JumpshotDaredevil season 2 is still the most-watched Marvel Netflix series since 2016. Season 3 hasn't fared as well; when Jumpshot compared the first weeks of the two seasons, they found viewership had dropped by 57 percent. The first week is a critical period for the Marvel Netflix shows (and, indeed, for all Netflix Originals). The bulk of views happen within that first-week window, with a steep drop over the next month or so to a background level.

This is mixed news for Daredevil. On the one hand, it is still quite a dramatic decline in viewership between the two seasons. On the other hand, though, the series is still outperforming the second seasons of both Iron Fist and Luke Cage. That suggests the Daredevil brand is stronger than the other two shows, and may mean Daredevil is safe from cancellation (for now). Season 3 has had strong word of mouth, and hopefully that will mean it takes a little longer to return to that base level in terms of viewership.

But why have views dropped so significantly? One possible factor is that it's been two years since Daredevil season 2. That's plenty of time for even the best series to lose its sense of momentum. Doubly so when there's been seven season of Marvel TV since then of varying quality and decreasing interest. Meanwhile, Daredevil season 2 also had a major draw that this season doesn't have; it featured the Punisher, another of Marvel's most notable superhero brands. Jon Bernthal's version of the Punisher was popular enough for Netflix to commission a spinoff series, and it's possible he bolstered Daredevil season 2's viewing stats.

Jumpshot's data also suggested both Iron Fist and Luke Cage have lost roughly two-thirds of their viewers between their first and second seasons. That suggests the problem isn't with Daredevil alone, but rather with the entire Marvel Netflix range. Jumpshot has provided Screen Rant with full data on all the Marvel Netflix shows, which we'll be exploring in detail over the rest of the week.

More: Daredevil Season 3 Fixed Season 2's Biggest Mistakes