What to Watch in 2019: Netflix

Netflix owned 2018. It had 137 million subscribers and spent $8 billion on original content. That is 8,137,000,000 reasons it dominated streaming. With all of that, Netflix looks to improve in 2019. How? More Netflix…

• Brand Focus: 2019 will bring stiffer competition. Disney and AT&T are joining the fray with Hulu and Amazon Prime already gerrymandering for position. Netflix’s plan? Invest in its own brand. “Our move into original programming was a bet [this]… was going to happen,” said Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos.
• Keeping it OG: Expect more original content (with global appeal—international represents 80% of subscriber growth), especially in holiday films and romantic comedies, which racked up millions of views in 2018.
• Cancellations: Netflix used to renew every show it produced; however, on the heels of canceling it’s Marvel programming (Disney+ anyone?), the company will be more particular on deciding what to renew. “It’s not purely audience, it’s quality of the audience as well,” said Sarandos.
• More Spending: More original content means more spending. Netflix spent over $8 billion on original content in 2018. 2019 will be bigger. The company inked nine-figure deals with TV juggernauts Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, banking on them to keep Netflix out front.
• More Emmys: Shonda Rhimes. Ryan Murphy.
• Going Live: Not so fast on that one. Netflix is uninterested in live and sports programming, which runs against its “core intention” of on-demand content.

As third parties pull content for their own over-the-top platforms, Netflix in 2019 will focus on title marketing. However, 2019 could show that the third party content Netflix loses is what made it desirable in the first place. Will 137 million grow or shrink?