Ampere: Netflix budget focused on drama and comedy

More than a third of Netflix’s original content spend to-date has been for drama titles, while nearly a quarter of its spend went on comedy series and stand-up shows.

This is according to new estimates by research firm Ampere Analysis, which claims that drama has accounted for 36% of Netflix’s originals budget, comedy for 22% and action and adventure content for 14% to date.

The remaining 28% of its spend is estimated to have been spent on a number of areas – including 6% on crime and thriller content, 5% on sci-fi and fantasy and 4% on horror.

Despite Netflix’s move into kids content, Ampere estimates that just 1% of its overall original content spent has gone on children andfamily content, while another 1% of its budget has been allocated to animation.

“Kids/family and documentary titles represent important components of Netflix’s catalogue, but the relatively low costs-per-hour for the categories – particularly compared to scripted drama and entertainment series – mean that sums spent on these genres have been comparatively low,” said Ampere in a research note.

Using its own calculations, Ampere claims that each of the shows that Netflix has cancelled to date fall below the levels of ‘cost-effectiveness’ achieved by its renewed titles – with the exception of Bloodline. 

The Get Down, which was cancelled after one season, was deemed to be Netflix’s least cost-effective show, achieving “middling interest” but commanding a high fee.

Of the shows Netflix has renewed, Ampere claims that Stranger Things is the most cost-effective, followed by 13 Reasons Why, Narcos and Jessica Jones.

Ampere decided cost effectiveness by weighing up show-cost relative to the volume of quality-weighted IMDB reviews.