London – Online platforms Netflix and Amazon have ramped up their investment in programming, spending $7.5 billion last year — more than CBS, HBO, Turner and most countries, including South Korea and Australia. Between 2013 and 2015, Netflix and Amazon more than doubled their annual expenditure on programming. In 2013, Amazon spent $1.22 billion; that jumped to $2.67 billion in 2015. In the same timeframe, Netflix spending rose from $2.38 billion to $4.91 billion.
The findings from World TV Production Report 2016, a forthcoming report by IHS Markit examined how TV programme producers are adapting to the era of Internet TV. Other online platforms like Hulu in the United States and China’s Youku Toudu, iQifyi and Tencent have also increased their investment in original programming and acquisitions.
There were 148 new scripted shows aired by basic cable networks in the United States, up from 138 the year before and 96 in 2013, according to the IHS Technology report. In 2016 so far, there have been 113 scripted basic cable shows, compared to 78 on the networks, 31 on premium cable, and 57 online. To set these numbers in context: in 2012, there were three online scripted US TV shows, that number rose to 20 in 2014, 41 in 2015.
After the US, the mature Western European region is the next most important, investing $38.6 billion, or just under one-third of the total. The biggest markets in Western Europe were the UK with $10.7 billion, Germany ($7.3 billion), France ($6.6 billion) and Italy ($4.6 billion). Japan is the largest in the region with $9.8 billion, followed by South Korea ($2.6 billion), Australia and India — both on $2.4 billion. Leading Latin American markets are Mexico ($1.5 billion) and Brazil ($1.4 million). Canada invested $3.4 billion last year. Russia and Turkey were both around the $900 million mark.