Netflix Expects to Spend Five Billion Dollars on Content in 2016

That’s billion, with a “B.”

There’s no doubt that Netflix is a booming business, worth nearly 50 billion dollars on the public market. They have nearly 70 million subscribers worldwide, a number that continues to grow with each new country where Netflix becomes available.

But certainly they’re not without their competitors. Hulu, Amazon, content owners like Time Warner and more, all gunning for that same market share that Netflix has done such a great job building itself. We as consumers all have the same 24 hours a day to consume entertainment, and we have never had more choice. But Netflix has always been aware of its own position in the market, a great example being their expansion into digital streaming, even as their DVD-by-mail delivery service was still booming. Now? They’re fully aware that as content owners pull their movies and TV shows from the streaming service for their own use it’s important for them to build their own content library of Netflix originals and eventually no longer rely on third party content owners to fill their library.

And as this library continues to grow, it would certainly make sense for the service to extend these offerings into specific niches in order to appeal to demographics that Netflix hopes to earn as subscribers. Specifically, if Netflix continues to expand internationally, the original content list will likely soon include content popular in those regions.

With that in mind, when speaking on stage with Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings commented that he hopes to see Bollywood and Anime original shows joining the service in the coming years. This is a key point in the survival of Netflix in an ever-changing industry. They will find new subscriber opportunities through global expansion and create content most relevant to their tastes.

This is why, despite the increased competition and continual pressure from third party content owners, Netflix is prepared for whatever is next in the SVOD industry. As the entertainment industry has changed, so has Netflix.

So as they spend that six billion dollars on content? Expect more and more of it to be used on original content instead of paying for content licensing.

You can watch the Hastings interview with the New York Times below: