All OTT enthusiasts out there must be well aware about the streaming platform that regularly churns out the largest number of original titles. No prizes for guessing. It’s Netflix, of course. And as per the latest figures (via Wall Street firm MoffettNathanson) for the third quarter of 2022 (July to September), the OTT giant released a whopping 1026 original episodes.
And in doing that, Netflix has surpassed its own record of around 900 episodes in the fourth quarter of 2021. During 2022 Q3, Netflix had premiered 159 original shows. For some perspective, rival OTT platforms namely Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, and Disney+ released a much lesser number of 223, 194, 114, and 140 episodes during the same period.
So, did Netflix’s record-breaking 1000+ episodes feat translate to a corresponding number of views by OTT audiences? As per the current weekly top ten original streaming titles list by Nielsen (US-basevied ws), eight out of ten titles are from Netflix while the remaining two are from Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar. Even before that, Netflix has regularly hogged the limelight on the Nielsen top ten streaming list.
Having said that, can it be said that Netflix is focussing more on quantity over quality for its original series? If we take a look at the original shows released on Netflix during the last quarter of 2022, it might give you a better picture. Some of the popular shows which were released during the period include ‘The Sandman’, ‘Cobra Kai’, Locke & Key Season-3’, and ‘Stranger Things 4 Vol.2’, and most recently ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’, to name a few.
Besides the aforementioned titles, Netflix also released some other widely acclaimed original shows in Q3 of 2022. The list includes the acclaimed Indian show ‘Delhi Crime S2’, ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’, ‘Kleo’, and the gripping show ‘Thai Cave Rescue’, amongst many others.
It’s a fact that Netflix does not boast of super premium titles like HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ and Prime Video’s ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ series. However, it wouldn’t be fair to say that Netflix is focusing more on quantity rather than quality.
On the other hand, Netflix seems to have adopted a ‘something for everyone’ strategy when it comes to releasing original series on its OTT platform. Their titles span multiple genres like drama, romance, horror, mystery, thriller, comedy, and action, etc. Certain titles may appeal to a particular segment of viewers while some other titles may appeal to another section of audiences. And we think there’s nothing wrong with that. Netflix obviously does not expect all viewers to watch all their series titles. What do you think about it?