It’s already darn near impossible to watch everything you’re “supposed” to on Netflix. The moment you get through The Crown, you remember you still haven’t finished Marvel’s Luke Cage, Lady Dynamite (please watch Lady Dynamite), and, oh good, there’s a Sense8 Christmas special. Too much TV isn’t a bad problem to have — not if it means more BoJack Horseman and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — but it can be hard for viewers to keep up.
And it’s not getting any easier in 2017.
Speaking at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, who probably knows more about you than your friends and family do, said that the streaming service will debut 20 unscripted shows in 2017. That’s on top of the “30 original scripted series in various stages of development or release,” according to Variety, which means the “original programming lineup will grow to up to 1,000 hours, more than doubling from 2016.” Netflix has come a long way since Lilyhammer.
“Unscripted television is a very interesting business,” Sarandos said, saying the company is focusing on shows that are “more likely to travel internationally.” For example, Ultimate Beastmaster will feature athletes and announcers from six different countries (the U.S., Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, Germany and Japan). “When Beastmaster hits in Korea, they’ll never have seen anything like it.” (Via)
Sarandos, who said he takes “very measured swings for the fences,” also repeated Netflix’s mission to spend $6 billion on content in 2017, most of which will go to bribing the Fuller House studio audience to laugh every time Stephanie says “how rude!” That’s not cheap.
(Via Variety)
