PASADENA, Calif. — Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos is holding a hard line on the streaming network's stance on viewer metrics. So, no, they won't be releasing any numbers any time soon.

"There's no business reason for us to internally or externally report those numbers," Sarandos told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour, which kicked off Wednesday in Pasadena.

SEE ALSO: Nielsen to hack Netflix, other streaming viewership with audio recognition

Traditionally, network ratings serve two main business purposes, as Sarandos pointed out: to justify rates to advertisers (which Netflix does not have) and to justify carrier fees to cable providers (which they also don't have).

Netflix does, however, release subscriber numbers for investors on a quarterly basis.

The streaming network has no plans to release figures about 'Orange is the New Black' or any other programming. Image: Netflix

At least one metrics provider — Nielsen — has recently tried to circumvent the streaming network's practice.

In November, a report unveiled Nielsen's plans to track activity on Netflix and other streaming services using audio recognition.

Sarandos dismissed the effort.

"I think that Nielsen is trying very hard to be relevant in a super rapidly changing technology world, and their ability to accurately track audiences today is in dispute, so I think when you look at adding new technologies and new measurements and new devices, it's going to be a struggle" he said after Netflix's panel. "That's why we haven't been that excited to embrace it."

Absent is concern that their secretive nature builds perceptions of underperformance, added Sarandos.

"You don't have shows that penetrate the culture at the level these shows have without having a lot of people watching."

Both for the Netflix business model and its content creators, he says, they aim to "stay away from" reporting metrics "as long as we can."

"I think the debate over ratings and the arms race it creates work negatively for television in terms of the process. It puts a lot of pressure on a show to perform at a very specific time even if a show was not built to be watched at that specific time," he says.

Netflix was the first network to present upcoming content during the TCA press tour, which runs through Jan. 20.