Netflix US original content library triples in two years
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 21 March 2019

As the company moves steadily away from relying on acquired content, the percentage of original film and TV season titles on Netflix’s US catalogue grew significantly over the course of 2018 according to Ampere Analysis research.

The analyst calculates that by the end of December 2018, 11% of the subscription VOD leader’s catalogue was made up of Netflix Originals. This compares with 4% in December 2016.

Examining the driving forces of the trend, Ampere says that the extent of Netflix’s strategy to become self-sufficient becomes far more apparent when analysing the latest titles on the service which are dominated by Originals. In December 2016, just a quarter of titles released less than a year before were Netflix Originals. At this point, the vast majority of new high-profile titles were acquired. However, by December 2018 the percentage of originals had doubled to 51%, putting Netflix firmly in control of the rights of the majority of the new titles coming on to its platform.

The analyst noted that Netflix’s rapid transition towards a premium TV model comes at a time when it faces a threat from major production companies pulling content as they prepare to launch direct-to-consumer (DTC) services. In addition, it found that 30% of Netflix’s US catalogue is content from major US studios, but that has already decreased as some production companies — including Fox and Disney — remove the majority of their titles.

“Netflix’s strategy is clearly moving towards a self-sufficiency model. Its focus on growing the proportion of original content in its catalogue shows no sign of slowing down – in fact Ampere’s analysis shows the streaming giant is reaching a point where it produces almost all the new and fresh content, while only the older content is licenced,” observed Ampere Analysis analyst Lottie Towler.

“This will position Netflix well in the market should other major studios follow in the steps of Fox and Disney and pull their content from SVOD services in advance of launching their own DTC offers.”