Netflix has already established a reputation for unleashing new content at a torrid pace, but the service’s 2018 plans are still somewhat mind-boggling.
Netflix CFO David Wells said (via Variety) during a Morgan Stanley investor conference that the company’s projected $8 billion content budget for 2018 will produce quite the slate. Wells said Netflix will have 80 non-English language original productions made in foreign markets in 2018 alone, but he was careful to point out that number doesn’t include titles like “Orange is the New Black” or “Narcos,” which he said play well in markets outside of the U.S.
“There’s even more than 80. If you think about the total number, it might be in the 700 range,” said Wells.
That comes out to roughly two new movies or shows per day for the entire year. Or, to put it another way, likely more hours of content than any one person could consume over the course of year.
RELATED: Amazon, Hulu and Netflix to triple original content spend by 2022: report
In January, Netflix said it now intends to spend between $7.5 billion and $8 billion this year on original programming. Netflix is also raising investments in marketing and technology. The marketing budget for 2018 is now set at $2 billion and the technology and development budget will hit $1.3 billion in 2018.
But that spending equates to more subscribers for Netflix and subscriber growth is the most-watched metric for the company.
During the fourth quarter, Netflix added 8.33 million new subscribers. Netflix now has 54.75 million U.S. subscribers and 62.83 million international subscribers. Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2018, Netflix estimated it will add 1.45 million new domestic subscribers and 4.9 million new international subscribers.