Customers want more original content from Netflix and others

During the early days of digital streaming, services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video offered access to entertainment that had previously aired on network television or through an established movie producer.

In February 2013, however, that changed as Netflix released its first original television show, House of Cards. The series went on to win several Emmy and Golden Globe awards, according to IMDB.

That success inspired other original projects.

Netflix has released 88 percent more original content during the first eight months of 2018 than it did during the same time in 2017. The company will spend at least $13 billion on programming this year compared to the $6.3 billion in 2017, according to Forbes. About 85 percent of that spending goes towards producing original shows and movies such as Orange is the New Black, Narcos, and Stranger Things.

Although some data shows that the vast majority of users are streaming network shows, it also points out that new subscribers are joining the network to get access to the new content.

Recent data from Deloitte’s Digital Media Trends Survey shows that a full 55 percent of Americans had subscriptions to a streaming video service in 2017 with this number expected to grow in 2018.

Of Netflix subscribers specifically, an impressive 62 percent feel that its original shows are one of the most significant factors in their decision to keep subscribing in the future. Similarly, about 61 percent of those surveyed would likely drop their Amazon Prime subscription if they no longer offered original content.