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Netflix Wants 50% Of Its Library To Be Original Content (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Netflix is looking to shift its content mix even further towards original TV and movies, with a goal of achieving a 50 percent mix between its own programming and stuff licensed for its use by outside studios. The 50-50 target was revealed by Netflix CFO David Wells at the Goldman Sach's Communacopia conference on Tuesday, and Wells added that they'd like to hit that mix sometime over the course of the next few years. As for its progress so far, Wells said Netflix is already about "one-third to halfway" to that ratio, having launched 2015 hours of original programming in 2015, and with the intend of achieving a further 600 hours by the end of 2016. The benefit for Netflix with a shift to self-generated content is that the licensing situation is much simpler, and the investment made represents a cost that continues to deliver value long after the initial spend. Licensing arrangements with outside TV and film distributors have a fixed term, and thus represent a recurring cost if you want to continue offering their content in your library.
I started subscribing to Netflix in 1999. I became a customer because I wanted to be able to watch movies from a variety of studios, not just one. If I just wanted one studio, I'd subscribe to HBO. Notice how Netflix streaming doesn't have that good of content from other studios? Probably because studios realize that if they make agreements with Netflix, they will be working with and helping one of their competitors. Like Akbar said, its a trap.
Example, there are several anime shows listed on Netflix as "Netflix originals" when the reality is that Netflix is the only place outside of japan to watch it (without downloading it illegally)