Netflix has shifted towards original and exclusive movies and shows, and with this, the size of its catalog has dropped. The number of titles available on the video streaming giant in the U.S. has decreased 31.7% since January 2014, and as a result, it now has fewer movie titles than Amazon Prime Video.
Hulu has more content than Amazon and Netflix
Netflix’s selection had gone down by over 2,000 titles, and the drop was much more pronounced in movies. Because of this, Amazon Prime Video has four times more movie titles than Netflix. Amazon Prime Video is one of Netflix’s major rivals, and recently the online retailer rolled out a standalone option, notes Barclays.
In terms of the number of shows, the video streaming giant still has an edge over the online retailing giant. Hulu beats both Amazon and the streaming giant in both the number of movies and shows. Amazon Prime has more to offer, but in comparison to its competitors, it is relatively new. Nevertheless, Amazon Prime offers various movies which were released within the past year.
The exclusive shows on Amazon Prime are Mozart in the Jungle, The Man in the High Castle and Transparent, whereas the exclusive shows on Netflix are Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards. The Mindy Project and Seinfeld are the exclusive shows on Hulu.
Is quantity everything? No
Netflix’s main focus has beenoriginal shows and exclusive movies. The streaming giant drives more value for its customers through its original shows and movies, even though they are expensive to produce and could be the reason behind the drop in the overall catalog. According to research by AllFlicks, Netflix’s originals have an average rating of 3.87 stars (out of five), which is higher than the 3.47 stars “other content” averages. AllFlicks is a site that tracks the streaming giant’s catalog.
Netflix started its journey into originals with shows, but it has been concentrating on movies at places like Sundance lately. According to Deadline, the streaming firm is also planning to spend $90 million on a new Will Smith movie. Netflix plans to spend about 5% of its content budget on original movies moving forward, and in 2016, it is planning to spend $5 billion on content.
In premarket trading, Netflix shares were trading down. Year to date, the stock is down by almost 19%, while in the last year, it is up by over 16%.
