No one outside of Netflix HQ knows exactly how many people are watching House of Cards, or Master of None, or Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, especially not NBC, but it’s a lot. Or at least enough that Netflix, which used to be best known for those ubiquitous red envelopes that you still haven’t mailed back, can spend $6 billion on “content.” In 2016 alone.
That is, in this reporter’s opinion, a lot of money.
[Chief content officer Ted Sarandos] noted the company will have 600 hours of original programming in 2016 and disclosed this year’s budget: “We’re going to spend in 2016 about $5 billion dollars on content on a [profit and loss] basis, which means about $6 billion in cash.” That number includes content acquisition and original programming. (Via)
That is, in this reporter’s opinion, a lot of original programming. But Sarandos doesn’t believe in the #TooMuchTV debate. “We don’t think there’s too much TV,” he said (see?), “and if there is too much TV, someone else is going to have to slow down, because we have big plans for 2016 and beyond.”
But where is that $6 billion going? A few ideas:
-Jewelry emblazoned with “FU” (House of Cards)
-Motorcycle-jumping-off lessons (Wet Hot American Summer)
-Full-time employee who’s only responsibility is to say, “No, we don’t know when Arrested Development is coming back” (Arrested Development)
-Drugs (Narcos)
Yup, there it is.
(Via EW)
