Netflix has three films up for awards at the 2022 Academy Awards, including ‘The Power of the Dog’ which garnered 12 nominations on its own.
How much is an Oscar, or 12 Academy Award nominations, worth to Netflix (NFLX) – Get Netflix, Inc. Report?
That is the question investors should be asking after Netflix’s “The “Power of the Dog” garnered a dozen nominations for the 2022 Oscars, including nods for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
The film cost Netflix “somewhere in the $30 millions” to make, according to director Jane Campion, who is the first female director to have multiple films nominated for Best Picture (The Piano).
The film was viewed by 1.2 million U.S. households over a five-day period when it debuted in early December, according to Samba TV which measures 3 million U.S. smart TV households.
Those type of numbers for an art-house movie that is over two hours long is nothing to dismiss.
For comparison, Marvel’s (DIS) – Get Walt Disney Company Report “Hawkeye,” which is a television spinoff from The Avengers movie franchise that is the highest grossing film franchise in history, saw 1.5 million viewers in its five-day streaming premier period.
Netflix films “Tick, Tick, Boom,” “The Lost Daughter,” and “Don’t Look Up” all received nominations for the 2022 awards also.
Netflix Is Spending on Quantity and Quality
Netflix ‘s content spend has been the subject of discussion for years.
In September, S&P Global Market Intelligence estimated that Netflix would spend $13.6 billion on content in 2021, including $5.21 billion, nearly 40%, for original shows and movies.
That total is up 26% from the $10.81 billion the company spent in 2020 and $9.22 billion spent in 2019.
Netflix itself said it expected to spend $17 billion on content last year and S&P Global expects Netflix’s content spend to reach $18 billion by 2025, growing at a 14% compound annual growth rate.
Those investments have helped the company clean up during awards season in recent years.
Netflix has led the field in Oscar nominations for at least the past three years. In 2021, the company had 35 nods, up significantly from the 24 nominations from 2020.
Last year, Netflix films won seven of the 23 Oscar trophies awarded, bringing its all-time historical tally to 15. The company just started making original content in 2011.
However, Netflix isn’t just pumping out critically acclaimed content. The company has been releasing between 100 and 125 new shows, movies and comedy specials each quarter.
While certain shows like “Squid Games” and “Stranger Things” become hits, most are never heard of again after their initial run on the platform.
Critical Acclaim Isn’t Fueling Sub Growth
Despite the inroads Netflix has made in legitimizing its brand among critics and peers, subscriber growth hasn’t matched the critical acclaim.
Netflix may soon be reaching subscription saturation as it has reached nearly 222 million global paid subscribers. That base is more than double the size of its nearest competitor Disney+ and almost double the subscription base of the U.S. cable market at its peak.
For the first quarter this year, Netflix expects to add between 2.5 million and 4 million net additions.
Speaking of Disney, the media conglomerate will spend about $23 billion on movies, TV shows and other content, according to its annual report.
