Image: NCIS, CBS
On Thursday Netflix reported earnings for the second quarter of 2024 and beat consensus estimates across several metrics including total memberships, revenue, and earnings per share. The company raised its projects for full year revenue growth on the back of these strong results. Still, shares traded lower amid concerns around revenue in upcoming quarters as any boost from last year’s password sharing crackdown fades. Additionally, Netflix’s decision to stop reporting on subscriber numbers in 2025 has raised concerns about opacity and left the market looking for metrics to understand the state of the streaming business.
As of Q2 2024, Netflix accounts for one quarter of the world’s streaming original series. With new content necessary to mitigate subscriber churn, this pipeline of fresh content gives Netflix a massive structural advantage. The next closest competitor in global supply share for original series is Amazon Prime Video at 9.0%, followed by Disney+ at 4.0%.
Netflix’s lead in supply of original content has translated to an even larger lead when it comes to demand for these shows. 32.9% of global demand for streaming originals was for a Netflix series, suggesting the streamer provides strong value for its 277+M subscriber base relative to the monthly fee.
Netflix’s biggest hit in Q2 2024 was the third season of “Bridgerton.” The Shondaland-backed series was the most in-demand streaming original worldwide for the quarter. While Netflix originals are often one or two season wonders, “Bridgerton” is proof that the company can create home grown franchises that build an audience over time.
However, while Netflix is continuing to dominate the output of streaming original content, a closer look at the streamer’s catalog make-up using Parrot Analytics’ Content Panorama shows how the licensed broadcast shows on its platform deliver some of the greatest impact. Broadcast series such as ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” NBC’s “Seinfeld,” and CBS’s “NCIS” accounted for just 1% of the TV shows available on Netflix’s US catalog, but drew 7.1% of the total demand. This underscores that Netflix is picking winners when it comes to the shows it chooses to license.
And it isn’t only recent content succeeding on Netflix, Netflix was the platform with the largest share of demand for on-platform series from shows that last released an episode in 2022 or earlier, showing how the platform is able to leverage even dated content to engage audiences. Last year’s example of “Suits” shows how Netflix, by virtue of its reach, can revive long-ended content and make it relevant again.
