Netflix Offered More Originals Than Acquired Content Last Year
by EG
The days when you could watch popular movies or TV series on Netflix may be coming to an end. Instead, expect to see a bigger and bigger deluge of original content from the streamer. But how much of it will be worth watching? Read on for details.
Via Deadline.
Illustrating the strategy Netflix executives have long articulated — and pointing to a wider gap between the company and its rivals — a new report shows that for the first time most new releases coming to the platform are originals.
Among all releases available in the U.S. that went live during the year leading up to December 2018, 51% were originals, as opposed to programs or films that had been acquired, according to a report by UK-based research firm Ampere Analysis. That share is more than double the 25% recorded in December 2016.
“Original” can mean a few different things, of course. There are shows or films that Netflix has nurtured from script stage, but also others where Netflix teams with established partners (e.g., Sony for The Crown, Lionsgate for Orange is the New Black).
Because of its expanding global footprint, Netflix is aiming to make locally targeted shows in many markets, but it is also expanding the availability of programming as the company builds scale. In the UK, Ampere found, 4,600 total titles (original and acquired) were also available in more than 15 Netflix territories around the world at the end of 2018, up from 3,000 in 2017.
The Ampere data does not track viewing time, which is perhaps the most elusive stat in the entertainment industry. Taking viewing time out of the equation, in raw terms just 11% of all titles that exist on Netflix in the U.S. are originals, the report found. But that number is nearly triple the 4% measured in 2016 and also dwarfs the 1% originals share at Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. Hulu and Amazon have made inroads with award-winning original series like The Handmaid’s Tale and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as well as narrative and documentary films. But they are not spending at Netflix’s level (more than $10 billion a year), nor are they as focused on volume as well as quality.
Get the rest of the story at Deadline.
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