Netflix – as in the, the streaming service Netflix – just threw shade at talk show host Conan O’Brien in a very 2018 moment.
Conan took a swipe on Twitter at Netflix’s recent promise to create 700 new movies and TV shows by the end of the year.
He tweeted: ‘Netflix announced it will release over 700 original TV series and movies this year. That explains their new slogan, “Quantity.”
Netflix announced it will release over 700 original TV series and movies this year. That explains their new slogan, “Quantity.”
— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) March 7, 2018
Not ones to take it lying down, Netflix (or the legend who is running their social media) quoted Conan’s tweet and replied: ‘Looking forward to the 1,138th episode of Conan tonight’.
ZING.
Conan currently fronts a late-night talk show on TBS in the United States and has done since 2010.
Meanwhile Netflix is set to spend upwards of $8 billion on content in 2018.
The company’s chief financial officer David Wells made the announcement at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco.
Wells said that the ‘700-range’ figure cited would include 80 original movies or shows from outside the US, including German psychological thriller Dark.
He added that the company’s strategy was to ‘continue to add content’ because ‘it’s working, it’s driving growth’.
Despite plans to make more original content, Wells did add that ‘people don’t care where the stories come from’.
‘We’re about having the best content,’ Wells said. ‘We don’t necessarily have to do it ourselves.’
Netflix ended 2017 with 117.6 million streaming members worldwide and Wells stressed that there being ‘more non-members’ worldwide than existing members is an ‘opportunity’ for the company.
Wells also discussed Netflix boosting its marketing budget. The company recently informed investors of their plans to increase marketing spending more than 50% in 2018, from $1.3 billion last year to $2 billion this year.
‘We used to think every incremental dollar was best spent on content, but we’re increasing spending on marketing because we think marketing is a multiplier on the content spend,’ Wells said.
Netflix has been pushing for a greater focus on content as of late, even going after some of the industry’s finest in exclusive deals set to bring even more fans to the provider.
The streaming giant recently inked a five-year exclusive deal with Glee producer Ryan Murphy in February, and a multi-year production deal with Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder creator Shonda Rhimes.
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