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posted by janrinok on Thursday January 19 2017, @09:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the original-content-for-the-win dept.

Netflix's foray into original content is paying off:

[Rather] than pay money out to studios for the right to show existing content, it instead ploughed its cash into shows such as Stranger Things, The Crown, Luke Cage and the remake of Gilmore Girls. In 2016, those "Netflix Originals" - already a term you could argue has become synonymous with quality - came thick and fast. The firm said it produced 600 hours of original programming last year - and intends to raise that to about 1,000 hours in 2017. Its budget to achieve that is $6bn - a billion more than last year.

On Wednesday we learned the company has been rewarded handsomely for putting its eggs in the original content basket. After hours trading on Wednesday saw the company's stock rise by as much as 9% on the news it had added 7.05 million new subscribers in the last three months of 2016. That's far greater than the 5.2 million they had anticipated, and left them ending the year with 93.8 million subscribers in total - and an expectation of breaking the symbolic 100 million mark by the end of March. In all, 2016 saw Netflix take in $8.83bn in revenue - with a profit of $186.7m.

Also at USA Today, TechCrunch, and Reuters.

Previously: Chris Rock Reportedly Signs $40 Million Deal With Netflix for Two Comedy Specials
Netflix Throws In the Towel On China
Netflix Lets Users Watch Videos Offline -- No DVDs Required


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Friday January 20 2017, @12:57AM

    by Appalbarry (66) on Friday January 20 2017, @12:57AM (#456321) Journal

    C'mon. Netflix runs about $10 a month. An average cable package around here will cost you $75+. Any way you calculate it Netflix is ridiculously cheap for the volume of content it delivers.

    I came here though to point out that about 70% of "Netflix Original" content is actually Swedish cop dramas, French comedies, and Mexican soap operas bought for cheap North American rights. Just subtitle and stream.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday January 20 2017, @01:20AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday January 20 2017, @01:20AM (#456324) Journal

    I came here though to point out that about 70% of "Netflix Original" content is actually Swedish cop dramas, French comedies, and Mexican soap operas bought for cheap North American rights. Just subtitle and stream.

    [citation needed]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Netflix [wikipedia.org]

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    • (Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Friday January 20 2017, @01:26AM

      by Appalbarry (66) on Friday January 20 2017, @01:26AM (#456327) Journal

      Wow! That list us longer than I expected! There are a lot of series that we really enjoyed. Dix pour Cent for a start.

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday January 20 2017, @10:15AM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday January 20 2017, @10:15AM (#456465) Journal

    I came here though to point out that about 70% of "Netflix Original" content is actually Swedish cop dramas, French comedies, and Mexican soap operas bought for cheap North American rights. Just subtitle and stream.

    We would have kept our subscription if they had even done that, because American-oriented content has become so hackneyed. But you only have to watch one Mexican soap opera before you realize that nearly every single one is about lionizing drug cartels. How pathetic is that, that an entire culture aspires to be nothing more than murderous thugs? There is literally no such thing as a Mexican "Real Genius" or even "Laverne & Shirley" that is not related to trafficking narcotics. Such ignominy for the descendents of the many brilliant cultures of the Tula, the Toltecs, the Olmecs, the Maya, the Aztecs, and others.

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @02:37PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @02:37PM (#456542)

      Come on, Bumblebee guy wasn't in a drug cartel.

      I don't see American content any worse than any other. They regionally just go with what works for their region. You say drug cartel stories work for Mexicans. The Brits are heavy on murder mysteries. The Japanese love their, well, I don't know what adjectives are best for those crazy sort of game shows stuff they have. Remember, when something like The Sopranos got really popular, we had a very large number of me-too gangster-themed shows pop up. I'm surprised there aren't much Game of Thrones clones all over the place; probably because set design and costumes are a bit much for the kind of budgets you'd be given to do a me-too type of show.