In March 2022, the number of original and exclusive titles in Netflix’s American catalog represented more than 50% of all programs available on the platform. A first in the company’s history. Indeed, according to data compiled by Ampere, there are now more than 3,700 “Netflix Original” (i.e. Original and Exclusive) branded movies and TV seasons within Netflix’s US offering, which has consistently offered about 7,000 titles over the past three years. 14.8% of the programs offered are “Exclusive” and 35.9% are “Original”.
6.2 billion invested in “Originals” in 2021
The “Originals” have been a major focus of Netflix’s strategy for several years. In September 2016, when the “Original” and the “Exclusive” represented only 5% of the American catalog, the financial director at the time, David Wells, had set a target of a 50-50 distribution between original titles and titles under Licence. A goal achieved this year as Netflix’s spending on original content peaked at $6.2 billion in 2021, more than double the second largest investor, Disney+, at $2.8 billion.
Exclusive and popular
These investments have helped make Netflix a leading distributor of popular content. Ampere’s Popularity Score indicates that in the first quarter of 2022, Netflix original and exclusive programming accounted for, on average, 12% of the top 100 titles available on SVoD in the US, the highest share of all SVoD platforms.
Without the studios
Ampere Analysis points out that Netflix is increasingly autonomous from the studios, an absolute necessity, insofar as the studios have embarked on the battle for SVOD and therefore have gradually deprived Netflix of their programs. In addition, the “Originals” also have, according to Ampère, a real strength internationally both because they are exclusive and they cost less to distribute than studio programs.
75% of “Original” in 2024
Based on current growth rates, the research firm estimates that 75% of movies and TV seasons available on Netflix will be either originals or exclusives by the end of 2024. hours of the catalog – which is currently 45% originals or exclusives – is expected to cross the 50% threshold by the fourth quarter of 2022.
Despite this proactive policy, Netflix points behind Apple, which offers the largest share of “Original”, with a much lower volume offer, it is true. But Netflix is ahead of Amazon Prime Video (9%) and Hulu (4%), two other incumbent streaming operators.