It might seem counter-intuitive but Netflix's top executive has revealed that he is not satisfied with the failure rate of his company's original programming - it's far too low.
"So, we’ve cancelled very few shows … I’m always pushing the content team: We have to take more risk; you have to try more crazy things. Because we should have a higher cancel-rate overall," CEO Reed Hastings said during a recent interview with CNBC.
Stanger Things
He clearly ascribes to the idea that 'if you don't fail at some point, you're not trying hard enough.' He believes that the company needs to push the envelope more in order to stay ahead.
"You get some winners that are just unbelievable winners, like '13 Reasons Why.' It surprised us. It’s a great show, but we didn’t realise just how it would catch on," he added, commenting on the success of its controversial teen drama which deals with the fallout of young woman taking her own life.
House of Cards
Netflix plans to invest $6bn in content this year. It aims to get to a point where 50% of all its titles are Netflix originals.
Mr Hasting said that its level of investment in new shows and films will increase in the coming year, "As we grow the membership base, we want to grow the content budget. There are so many great shows we don’t have yet," he stated.
Making a Murderer
Baz Luhrmann's disco-inspired series 'The Get Down' recently became the first Netflix show to be cancelled without being given a second series. Its high-budget epic-drama 'Marco Polo' was also cancelled at the tail-end of last year after two seasons.
Since it moved into content production, the company has developed a reputation for giving creative teams more freedom than traditional broadcasters. It often guarantees shows a second series regardless of how its first outing performs.