Netflix's Ted Sarandos said 85% of new spending will be directed to original productions with content spending for 2018 to be up to $8bn.
A study by Digital TV Research forecasts that Netflix will have 201m streaming subscribers by 2023, up by 82% from 111 million at end-2017. About 28m subscribers will be added in 2018 with Netflix to end the year with 139m subscribers, making it the largest growth year ever. Lower growth is expected after 2018, according to the Netflix Forecasts report.
North America and Western Europe will together supply 62% of Netflixs total subscriber base by 2023. The will be dominant, but down from 76% in 2017. Asia Pacific will boast fast growth by taking 14% of the 2023 total. This represents 28m subs, a quadruple as compared to the 2017 figure.
Streaming subscription revenues for Netflix will climb by 155% from $11.3bn in 2017 to $28.8bn in 2023. The top five countries will generate revenues of $16bn in 2023 or 56% of Netflixs global subscription revenues. The US will contribute $11.2bn, with four other countries above $1 billion.
In a recent interview to Variety, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos said that the SVOD service will be dedicating around 85% of new spending to original TV shows, films and other productions.The company expects its content spending for 2018 to be up to $8bn.
Netflix’s originals will total around 1,000 by the end of 2018, with 470 of those set to premiere between now and end of 2018, according to Sarandos. He also stated that Netflix plans to produce 80 original films in 2018, ranging from sub-indie low-budget pictures to $100m blockbusters.
Sarandos reiterated in the interview that Netflixs focus on original and exclusive content is driven by more favourable economics and the expectation that big media companies would eventually focus more on their own streaming-subscription services. Netflix also sees an opportunity to create more unscripted programming which at present makes up 7% of its portfolio, compared to 40% of viewing on U.S. television. Sarandos added that the company has no current plans to go into live TV programming.
