2018 was a good year for Netflix, as most recent years have been. 2018 saw Netflix spend more than $12 billion on original content. It turns out that investing in original content provides a great return, so much so that Netflix plans to spend over $15 billion on it in 2019.
Netflix has spent billions to produce original content to keep ahead of its competition, which has grown fierce in recent years. The content streaming giant could reach new heights going forward if they can sustain their current growth and stay ahead of competition. Fortunately for shareholders, Netflix has been playing a long game and investing huge sums into projects that net high returns. Lately, Netflix has produced even more blockbusters (pun intended) such as Bird Box and a new season of You. Bird Box was viewed in over 80 million homes during its first month on the streaming platform. The company reports that much more is on the way.
In related news for Netflix, the increase in spending comes amid the loss of licensed programmers from former partners like Disney. Disney is now developing its own streaming platform, so Netflix has had to stay sharp. Netflix has already had to distance itself by canceling some Disney-owned programming.
