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LOS ANGELES — Tonight is a big night in television, as the 2018 Primetime Emmy Awards will take place. A list of the nominees shows an obvious frontrunner, but not one you’ll find in a designer gown or sleek tuxedo. Netflix holds the title for most nominations this season, totaling 112 nominations.
So what sets Netflix apart from other entertainment outlets?
One possibility is Netflix’s budget for original content. In October of last year, it was projected that the streaming service would spend $8 billion on programming in 2018, according to the New York Times. But it’s currently estimated that it will end up spending around $13 billion by the end of the year, according to Fortune.
This is an unusually high amount of money to spend on programming. HBO has 108 nominations this year, coming in second for most nominations. But HBO only spent $2 billion on content, according to Business Insider.
So what allows Netflix to spend roughly six times this amount on programming?
A simple answer is that Netflix has money to spare. As of this year, Netflix has over 130 million subscribers, according to Recode. Subscription plans range from $8 to $14 a month. So even if every subscriber had the cheapest plan, Netflix would bring in over $12 billion a year.
Netflix is also the most popular platform to view video content, according to Variety. Part of this is due to the fact that Netflix is less expensive than a cable subscription. It can cost anywhere from $16 to $70 a month to have a cable subscription, according to Bankrate. Of course, Netflix doesn’t stream live content like cable can. But you do get high-quality television and movie content for a much lower price.
Part of Netflix’s success is the diversity of its content. You can find all kinds of programming on the streaming platform, from anime shows to award-winning films. Netflix has its share of big-name films in its catalog, like this year's Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther.” But less popular content also does well on Netflix. Variety reports that two lower-budget Netflix films, “Roxanne, Roxanne” and “Dude”, had been viewed by 8 million to 10 million people on Netflix.
This past year, Netflix has made exclusive deals with a few big names in show business. Ryan Murphy, creator and producer of successful shows like “American Horror Story” and “Glee”, signed a $300 million deal with the streaming service this year, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The deal is the “richest producing deal in television history”, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Murphy has had a very successful career, winning four Emmy awards in the past seven years. He had an exclusive deal with 20th Century Fox Television for years.
"So, the Netflix way is an interesting way because it's a purely creativity way,” Murphy said to the Hollywood Reporter. “It is simply 'your show is doing great' or 'your show is not doing so great.' That's it. It's not a humiliating 'your show is down 30 percent.'"
Outspending other networks has obviously worked to Netflix’s advantage. It began producing original content in 2013, with the release of the critically-acclaimed series “House of Cards." Other nominations include popular shows such as “The Crown”, “Stranger Things 2” and “Queer Eye.”
The awards show will be broadcast Monday at 5:30 p.m. on NBC, hosted by “Saturday Night Live” cast members Michael Che and Colin Jost.
