NETFLIX’S DEEP POCKETS toward the end of 2017 the internet media announcement In 2018 it would spend company Netflix made a headline-grabbing between 7 billion and 8 billion on original and acquired content That’s a whopping 1 billion more than it spent in 2017 on smash hits such as Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why 1 The amount is also equal to or larger than the spending budgets of many other streaming providers or traditional TV media companies for programs other than sports including HBO FX CBS Hulu and even tech giant Amazon Netflix is not only spending large amounts of money it is making money as well In just three months in 2017 the company raked in nearly 3 billion in revenue from domestic and international subscriptions During those same three months Netflix’s net income rose to Stranger Things which debuted in 2016 became one of Netflix’s biggest hit shows 5
NONSPORTS SPENDING BY TV AND INTERNET STREAMING COMPANIES 2017 5 TV COMPANIES INTERNET STREAMING COMPANIES 10.2 12 10 8 8 8 7.8 1 6.3 BILLIONS OF US DOLLARS 6 4.5 4.2 4 2.5 2 1 1 0 FOX CBS UNIVERSAL NBC HULU APPLE WARNER TIME DISNEY NETFLIX AMAZON FACEBOOK In 2017 many companies in both traditional television and internet streaming spent 1 billion or more on nonsports programming 130 million That's 78 million more than the company made during the same period in 2016 2 Since its founding in 1997 Netflix has transformed from a DVD sales and rental company into the largest internet entertainment service provider in the world After picking up 8.3 million new subscribers in the last three months of 2017 it had more than 117 million paying members in more than 190 countries 3 These subscribers collectively watch more than 140 million hours of TV shows and movies per day 4 6
How has Netflix become so successful The company’s services whether it is delivering DVDs by mail or streaming content online have proven extremely popular with consumers The company now creates its own original series award-winning documentaries foreign films and programming for kids in order to provide its customers with a steady flow of new things to watch In addition Netflix keeps close track of the types of movies and TV shows its customers are watching The company then uses this data to create and acquire content geared toward the viewing habits of specific audiences For Netflix and its subscribers alike it’s a win-win situation Netflix is to the naked eye a two-pronged success If your company can produce local content that people love worldwide and you only NETFLIX WINS ITS FIRST OSCAR FOR A FEATURE FILM Netflix is no stranger to accolades The internet media giant has been nominated for and even won some major awards before But from the time it started creating original content in 2013 until 2018 it had never won an Academy Award for a feature-length film In March of that year that changed with the win for Best Documentary Feature Icarus tells the true story of the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by Russian professional athletes It stars Grigory Rodchenkov the head of Russia’s anti-doping agency who broke the news about the problem His revelations led to a ban on Russians participating in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang South Korea though some athletes were eventually reinstated 7
