Despite taking financial hits, Netflix hasn’t been deterred by expensive cancellations like Marco Polo and The Get Down, CEO Reed Hastings told CNBC’s Squawk Alley:
No, it is going big budget, for sure. Because as we get a bigger distribution, we can afford more spectacular entertainment. We have a German series, Dark, that is coming out in a few months. That is science fiction and very, I think, will be a big global winner. Of course, 3% out of Brazil has been very popular around the world. So, we’re doing a number of shows outside of Hollywood and we’re doing a lot of shows inside of the Hollywood system.”
Hastings also vowed that Netflix will continue to take big swings on new shows, even if it means more cancellations:
Well, you can tell when we cancel a show. So, I’m always pushing the content team, we have to take more risk, you have to try more crazy things, because we should have a higher cancel rate overall. Because then, what you get is you get some winners that are just unbelievable winners like 13 Reasons Why over the last three months has been a big hit for us. And you know, it surprised us too. I mean, it was a great show, but we didn’t realize just how it would catch on.”
Stay tuned as we continue to monitor the cancel/renew status of ALL Netflix shows…
Marius Flugsrud says
Uhm, well. The viewers definitely love cancellations… Cancellations are a big hit for viewers…