Netflix has a lot to celebrate: The company added 2.4 million subscribers in the third quarter after previously shedding nearly a million in the second quarter.
The third quarter was a bonafide smash with the release of monster titles like the final two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4, the controversial Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and, most recently, The Watcher.
The company will roll out its upcoming ad-supported tier, Basic with Ads, on Nov. 3, which will cost $6.99 per month.
All of this and more was touted during the company’s prerecorded third-quarter earnings call. But here’s what else was discussed:
New titles are coming
So what exciting titles will the streamer release in the final months of 2022? Apparently, it’s an incredible slate.
Content includes new seasons of The Crown, Emily in Paris, Manifest, Dead to Me, Firefly Lane, Ginny & Georgia and new series Tim Burton’s Wednesday, Guillermo del Toro‘s Cabinet of Curiosities and The Recruit.
Non-English speaking series Alice in Borderland, Barbarians and Élite also return.
Why Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will head to theaters
Some have wondered why the Knives Out sequel will have a one-week theatrical run.
After all, as Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos explains, “We’re in the business of entertaining our members with Netflix movies on Netflix. So, that’s where we focus all of our energy and most of our spends.”
However, he said this small-scale release in only 600 theaters for one week is akin to other Netflix films being shown at festivals.
“Our films are always heavily featured in film festivals around the world because they are in demand, made by the greatest filmmakers on the planet. For all those folks who can’t get to a city where a festival is, this one-week release on 600 screens is a way of creating access to the film and building buzz, the same thing we’re doing in those festivals,” he said.
Given the extremely short theatrical run, he said most people will still see Glass Onion on the streamer.
“There’s all kinds of debates all the time back and forth, but there is no question internally that we make our movies for our members, and we really want them to watch by Netflix. And of course, with one week of release in theaters, most people will see them on Netflix, just like they see all movies,” he said.
The company’s $17 billion content spending budget was right for 2022
“Both the scope and scale, as well as the range and cadence of hits is improving,” Sarandos said.
“So I feel better and better about that $17 billion of content spend because what we have to do is be better and better at getting more impact per billion dollars spent than anyone else,” he added. “And that’s how we’re focusing on it. So I think we’re spending at about the right level. And as we reaccelerate revenue, we’ll revisit that number, of course. But we’re a pretty disciplined bunch about that.”
Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said that figure might be revisited as the company expects accelerated revenue.