Netflix has announced they will spend $17 billion in cash on content this year, which is on par with what the streaming service spent in 2020.
The company shared the news in a letter to their shareholders, saying, “While the rollout of vaccines is very uneven across the world, we are back up and producing safely in every major market, with the exception of Brazil and India. Assuming this continues, we’ll spend over $17B in cash on content this year, and we’ll continue to deliver an amazing range of titles for our members with more originals this year than last.”
Netflix has seen its content budget steadily increase over the last few years as they continue to bring a diverse library of content to their viewers.
In 2019, they spent a little over $15B for content, up from $12B in 2018, and $17B in 2020, with analysts and experts estimating that they could spend $26B by 2026.
The streaming service juggernaut is also starting to face some serious competition in terms of content budgets. Competitors like Disney+ are looking to spend around $8B a year over the next few years, as Apple TV+ and Amazon are expected to bring bigger challenges.
