The Leadership Letter

Real correspondence from the people running real companies — and what it reveals about leadership.

How Netflix Turned Content Spending Into a Flywheel

If you want to justify a massive cost center, show how it drives margin expansion at the same time — then the spending becomes the strategy.

We're optimistic about our prospects and the future of entertainment. Over the last year, there's been an intense debate about streaming's impact on the creative community. Like all new technology including TV, home video, and DVD, the internet has driven a lot of change in our industry, while also opening up significant new opportunities. Increased convenience, choice and control for consumers has expanded audiences and created additional value for older titles, with series like Breaking Bad, Arrested Development and Ballers generating huge viewing and new revenue. It's given many more creators the chance to have their voices heard, whether in front of or behind the camera. But most important of all, streaming has helped ensure that film and TV remain relevant for the next generation. Since 2016, when we launched our service globally, we've been able to invest heavily in our slate (with content amortization up ~3X from $5B to ~$14.5B a year) while steadily increasing Netflix's operating margin (up 5X, from 4% to 20%) and improving our free cash flow from -$1.7B to about ~$6.5B this year. As a result, we're able to grow our content investment — almost all of which goes directly to the creative community. We want to sustain that virtuous cycle because when we partner with the best creators, we can delight our members, invest more in amazing TV series, movies and games and build an even more valuable business.

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SEC EDGAR Filing
SEC EDGAR · EX-99.1
NETFLIX INC · EX-99.1 · filed 2023-10-18 · Accession 0001065280-23-000272
October 18, 2023
Public domain
View the primary source →