Attention all filmmakers and TV creators out there, Netflix is in the market to buy up just about everything.
Speaking at the MoffettNathanson’s Media & Communications Summit 2018 in New York (via Variety), Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said that the streaming giant is moving almost exclusively towards original content, specifying that 85% of new spending will be aimed at original TV shows, films, and other productions.
So, how much spending are we talking about?
Sarandos says that the service is going to spend up to $8 billion (with a ‘b’) on content for 2018. While he doesn’t break down how much of that spending is on original content, Sarandos admitted that the bulk is on originals.
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All told, Netflix expects to have 1,000 originals on the service by the end of 2018, with 470 set to premiere between now and the end of the year. Yes, you read that right. There will be almost 500 original programs, films, and other content between now and the end of 2018. He adds that more than 90% of customers regularly watch original programming.
“The creators we’re talking to, they watch Netflix and they want to be on our network,” Sarandos said. “…the way we can secure those shows is having a great reputation with talent, having a brand people want to be associated with, and a good track record of delivering.”
Sarandos also went into how Netflix uses their customer data. Unlike network TV and cable providers, who use ratings information to sell to advertisers, Netflix is using the customer data to reverse-engineer their budgets. “The best use of data is to more confidently size the budget” for a production, he said. The Netflix executive denied that they ever use the data for “creative input.”
Ultimately, all this news means that your seemingly never-ending queue is going to grow significantly between now and December.