Netflix is planning on spending $6 billion on content this year. But it begs the question: is that too much TV?
Apparently, Netflix does not think so. The streaming company’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos tackled the issue head on during the TCA press tour in Pasadena on Sunday morning.
“Is there too much TV?” Sarandos asked, then added, according to EW.com, “I’ll pause for a second,” knowing reporters would want to get this next part: “We don’t think there’s too much TV. 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.”
Sarandos pointed out that the company will have 600 hours of original programming in 2016 and they are spending close to $6 billion in new content. “We’re going to spend in 2016 about $5 billion dollars on content on a P&L basis, which means about $6 billion in cash.”
It’s important to keep in mind that NEtflix currently has 70 million subscribers. “We are running a global network,” he declared, “one that is not easily comparable either in business or cultural terms … We’re not courting advertisers, because we’re not targeting a single demographic.”
But many network executives are arguing that there is too much TV nowadays. In fact, FX chief John Landgraf pointed out that there were 400 scripted shows in 2015. “You can’t even count the number of TV shows accurately,” he said. “Hoping they won’t run off a cliff and into an ocean … 2016 or 2017 will represent peak TV in America, and then we will see a decline.”
However, as Landgraf pointed out, Hollywood is getting desperate and is struggling to find people to write and create new shows for TV networks across the country because it is so competitive.
From Variety:
FX made a strong run at “True Detective” when the first installment with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson went up on the auction block in 2013, but HBO snared the property.
“Part of being in this business is losing,” Landgraf said. “You just can’t win them all.”
“We’re competing against payrolls — a la the Oakland As and the Yankees — that are three to four times ours,” Landgraf added.
