Netflix's Original Content Library Is Growing By 185% Each Year (cordcutting.com)

An anonymous reader writes: From Q1 of 2012 to Q1 of 2016, Netflix has added an incredible 111 original series and films. The numbers translate to an average quarterly growth rate of 34.22% and an average annual growth rate of 185.41%. And there is reason to believe that future growth rates could be even higher -- with competition coming from all sides, Netflix is likely to keep pushing more and more cash into original content. Those wondering why Netflix has grown increasingly interested in owning the shows it airs, you have to realize that not long ago the streaming company was struggling to snap any good TV show from cable channels. The New York Times' profile of House of Cards' Beau Willimon, from 2014, sheds more light into this : Around three years ago, Netflix realized it had a problem: It was paying large sums to license other people's content -- TV shows and movies produced by other companies -- in order to then show them to you, the Netflix subscriber, at home. This initially proved successful, but there were two troubling aspects to this model: 1) It left Netflix very vulnerable to competition, since the shows and movies it licensed could, theoretically, be licensed by anyone willing to outbid them, and 2) the most popular TV shows, episodic dramas like "CSI" and sitcoms like "The Big Bang Theory," were already being sold for huge deals into syndication at basic cable channels like TBS and USA. What was left to Netflix were the kind of serialized shows that don't typically play well in syndication, like "Lost" and "Breaking Bad," which have complicated story arcs that compel a viewer to watch all the episodes in order. Traditionally, while these kinds of serialized shows could be big hits in their initial broadcast runs, they proved tough sells to aftermarkets, precisely because of the demands they placed on the audience.

Comments

Original Content and International TV

[Notorious G]

I like the original content push - it seems NetFlix is more willing to be original and take some chances rather than create yet another "CSI" or "Law and Order" or just some stupid hospital based soap opera. Not all the original content is great but it's mostly pretty solid with some standouts. I hope they continue to embrace original content. The back catalog stuff is sometimes interesting but mostly stuff I've already seen, it's a dead end.

I've really been getting into international shows. "The Almighty Johnsons", "Wentworth", "Happy Valley" are all excellent.

Won't matter

[future assassin]

as I'm about to pull the plug on Netflix for blocking VPS/DNS services. I do watch them quite a bit from Canada but I don't really need them. Even the wife who could care less about tech stuff was like what? Off with their heads.

Re:Yet Another Cable Channel?

[Tailhook]

what's the real difference...?

C O S T !

People that don't care enough about teevee to accept the huge cost of cable teevee packages are far better served with a low cost streaming system. Netflix is doing it right; they learned back in 2011 not to jack up rates to pay for a huge catalog, and instead they're making new content and watching their subscriber base grow rapidly. They're doing it right and the endless horde of critics are arguing with success.

I think they need to go further. They should build a genuine news network and stream it live. CNN blew up news reporting in the 80's, displacing traditional network news and creating multiple cable exclusive competitors. Netflix has 65 million international viewers that would probably tune into a streaming exclusive news network.