• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, January 8, 2024

Netflix’s total output of original titles decreased for the first time in a decade last year, according to fan site What’s On Netflix, which continuously tracks the streamer’s content. 

At just under 700, the total was down by about 130 titles, or 16%, compared to 2022’s record 800-plus, according to fan site What’s On Netflix, which continuously tracks the streamer’s content. The totals for 2021 and 2020 were about 650 and 600, respectively. 

All genres were affected to some extent, including TV series, movies, documentaries and stand-up specials. Series releases were down by about 60, or 25%, in the second half, and in the fourth quarter, the overall release total was the smallest in five years. 

The decrease is not surprising, as it reflects Netflix’s publicly declared shift in content strategy, as well as the impact of this year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes on production across all studios. 

After emphasizing production volume output for years as it raced to build a library capable of competing with the legacy studios’ and compensate for those studios withdrawing content licensing rights to keep titles for their own streamers, Netflix has determined that it can maintain current spending and emphasize quality over quantity. 

That change in philosophy was announced back in March 2023 by Scott Stuber, chairman of Netflix Films, at which time the company said its 2023 schedule called for producing 49 films, compared to 85 in 2022. 

Thanks to its crackdown on password sharing and launch of an ad-supported tier, Netflix reversed subscriber losses in 2022, adding 16 million subscribers in 2023’s first nine months (to reach 247.2 million). That included 8.8 million in Q3 — and Netflix projected a similar quarterly gain for Q4. 

With the AVOD tier and international markets expected to help drive growth going forward, and a churn rate that’s higher than in the past, but still considerably lower than the churn at rival streamers, Netflix believes it can  yield optimal financial results by freezing content spend and leaning into locally produced content and high-quality, high-visibility domestic releases, like the critically acclaimed current release “Maestro." 

“Netflix still produces at such a high volume that it’s not clear if customers even notice when there are fewer shows,” notes Bloomberg.

Netflix — the only major streamer that is profitable — is also benefitting from rival media companies’ financial struggles, which have caused them to resume licensing some of their most popular TV series to Netflix in order to boost their revenue.