Can an Extra $2 Billion Per Year Win Netflix More Emmys?
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For anyone who worried that Netflix’s new initiative to cancel more shows might lead to a drop in content, never fear: the company just announced that in 2018, it actually plans to spend $1 billion to $2 billion more on original content than it did this year. (That would bring its originals budget up to $7 billion or $8 billion, from $6 billion.) What’s more, subscribers can expect the number of original films available on Netflix to jump; by the end of next year, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos says the streaming giant will have produced a whopping 80 new movies.
Like most of us, Netflix has had an interesting 2017. On one hand, the company’s numbers are looking good: per The New York Times, it added 5.3 million subscribers in its third quarter; its revenue jumped 30 percent from the same period last year; and its net income shot up to $130 million for the third quarter, more than doubling last year’s $52 million. On the other hand, Netflix has not fared as well in terms of prestige. The Emmys kicked off awards season by largely shutting Netflix out—and showering awards on the streaming service’s biggest competitors, including HBO’s Big Little Lies and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. (Amazon, which is facing some deeper-seated issues at the moment, also left the ceremony mostly empty-handed.)
Right now, the Times reports, original programming accounts for 25 percent of Netflix’s total content spending, and that figure is expected to grow. Could a new injection of cash help Netflix garner more awards attention—like an Emmy win for outstanding actor or actress, or outstanding comedy or drama series? True, Netflix has received a few outstanding documentary prizes, and won Emmys for a few supporting performances—but the main four categories have eluded the service since it began streaming original content in 2013.
Netflix already outspends most of its competition, the Times reports, including HBO, FX, and CBS—the last of which recently launched its own streaming service, All Access, with Star Trek: Discovery and The Good Fight. The vast majority of Netflix’s new subscriptions, the Times notes, came from international markets, rather than new domestic subscribers. Meanwhile, the ground continues to shift: Disney’s library will leave Netflix for its own platform in 2019, and Hulu continues to pick up steam. (As the Times notes, Hulu’s parent companies have started selling their back libraries to Hulu itself instead of Netflix, which explains why the service is losing popular series like 30 Rock.)
Still, Netflix appears ready to fight: it poached Shonda Rhimes from ABC with a huge overall deal, and has also commissioned longtime Fox/FX creator Ryan Murphy to create a One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest origin story focused on Nurse Ratched. And, most recently, there’s also the newly announced negotiation with Riz Ahmed to star in a modern Hamlet, fresh off the actor’s Emmy-winning turn in HBO’s The Night Of. It’s true, big names don’t always translate into good TV shows—but if any group can pull Netflix across the finish line, it’s probably this one.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
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