Analysis: Netflix Originals as popular as major movies
September 13, 2021
By Colin Mann
Research from Ampere Analysis comparing content popularity ratings from different distributors and commissioners has estimated that roughly a quarter of titles released in the last five years expected to achieve long term popularity are Netflix Originals – matching Disney and WarnerMedia in producing valuable longer-term content.
For this analysis, Ampere has used its proprietary Critical Rating score based on user reviews, and its own Popularity Score based on volume of interest, website traffic and box office income. Using this methodology, Netflix’s Originals account for more titles in the 20 most popular titles each month, more than those of any other streaming platform and have consistently accounted for at least 31 per cent of the most popular titles since 2019. The streaming giant’s ability to create hit content – especially TV shows, which make up 79 per cent of Netflix top placements – is an effective substitute for legacy franchises.
Netflix can compete with studios in producing longer-term content
Since 2015, Netflix has aggressively ramped up its Originals content production, rising from 124 titles to over 2,000 as of 2020. Netflix has joined media giants Disney and WarnerMedia in creating content that will last. Netflix’s series The Crown and Stranger Things will likely stand the test of time alongside many individual titles from Disney’s Marvel and Star Wars universes and from WarnerMedia’s DC and Harry Potter stables.
“Competition in the SVoD market has intensified with studio-backed new entrants producing their own Originals (a number of which are based on existing, popular IP) and reclaiming titles licensed to Netflix for their own platforms,” notes Rahul Patel, Analyst. “But as the dominant commissioner of popular SVoD Originals and with an increasingly large release slate, Netflix has established a production brand to an extent unrivalled by any other SVoD platform.”