Netflix is slowly easing back on its reliance on licensed movies and TV shows, and it will generate half of its audience with its own originals by October 2019.
That’s the conclusion of a new report just jointly published by research companies Parrot Analytics and Kagan.
According to the research companies, Netflix originals’ share of total audience increased an average of 1% each month from June 2017 to July 2018. Reliance on licensed content dropped 10.9% over that span.
Based on this data, Parrot and Kagan forecast parity between originals and licensed content late next year.
Earlier this month, WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey delivered a shot across the ol’ bow, telling investors that Netflix and other top subscription streaming platforms can expect a “thinning” of their libraries when WarnerMedia launches its own direct-to-consumer platform in late 2019.
In April, research firm 7Park Data released a report suggesting that Netflix was getting 80% of its viewing from licensed shows at the time.
Although it is well known to be spending top dollar on leading creative talent, Netflix has been criticized by analyst for not effectively promoting its shows.
“Netflix has been great at developing a lot of content, but what it hasn’t been great at is the traditional, Hollywood style of marketing and creating enough buzz around shows,” explains Omar Akhtar, an analyst for the San Francisco-based Altimeter Group, told Yahoo Finance earlier this year. “That’s not where their budgets lie. They’d rather spend on great content.”
