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Netflix’s Catch-22 Milestone

At last, after an ambitious 2016 proclamation, more than half of Netflix’s library is composed of original programming. And yet, the company faces a complex challenge: as originals grow, so does consumer dissatisfaction. But how else can they entice new subscribers?

Ted Sarandos
Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Julia Alexander
August 30, 2022

Back in 2016, a simpler time before Disney+ and Paramount+ and HBO Max and AppleTV+ and Peacock, Netflix’s chief financial officer David Wells made an ambitious proclamation. Netflix, then known largely for House of Cards, but also for Breaking Bad and Dawson’s Creek reruns, would double down on its studio approach: over the next few years, he said, 50 percent of Netflix would be original content. Half.