The streaming giant will debut almost 500 new original movies, TV shows, and other productions before the end of this year, bringing the total up to around 1000. 85% of new spending is being invested in originals, according to the company and a report by Variety.

Netflix ups spending on originals
A lot of the entertainment offered on Netflix is still licensed content from other studios but 85% of new spending is going towards exclusive content – or originals – that will be available only on Netflix. That is according to Ted Sarandos, chief content officer, who spoke at the MoffettNathanson 2018 conference.

Competitors such as Disney will pull content from Netflix in the near future in order to offer it exclusively on their own services. Netflix’s pivot to original content was partly in anticipation of this trend, and specifically for Disney’s move it has “been slower than I thought, actually,” said Sarandos. New players such as Amazon and Apple are also entering the space.

By the end of this year, Netflix expects to have 1000 originals in its library, with around 470 of those set to premiere between now and the end of 2018 – including 80 new movies this year. The company will spend $8 billion dollars on content this year alone.

Netflix also announced that it is creating an anthology horror series with Guillermo del Toro.



Sarandos: Smaller titles do not get lost
The company rarely shares viewership data but Sarandos pulled out data for two smaller Netflix movies (Roxanne Roxanne and Dude) that have been watched by 8-10 million each, to dismiss the notion that smaller titles get lost in Netflix’s library. The company is using algorithms to recommended new content to users based on their history and taste.

He also reiterated that Netflix has no intentions of getting into live sports or news.

While a lot of new original content is coming to Netflix, a lot of licensed content will also disappear over the coming years. This is not what users originally signed up for but judging from the company’s explosive growth people seem to love it.

- Source: Variety