Acquired studio films that have benefited from a wide theatrical release offer the best bang for the buck for Netflix, providing more views per dollar spent than original features or acquired series, a new report has found.

The report, Unpacking Netflixs evolving movie strategy, published Wednesday by Ampere Analysis, tracks viewership across Netflix for feature films, both originals and licensed, over time. Author Christen Tamisin found acquired films, including those under Netflixs premium pay deals with Sony and NBCUniversal contribute significantly to Netflixs total viewing, and, with their lower cost-per-view, are more cost-efficient than Netflixs big-budget originals. Netflix spent $1.07 billion on movie licensing in the first half of last year, the report notes, with acquired movies drawing 9.23 billion total views for the period. The streamers original movie spend over the same period was just under half that, at $0.51 billion, with fewer than half the total viewers, at 3.98 billion. Original and acquired TV series over multiple seasons and dozens of episodes rack up far more total views for Netflix but on a dollar-per-view basis are far less efficient than movies. Ampere calculated that spend-per-view was, on average, $0.55 for licensed TV shows and $0.68 per view for Netflix original series, compared to $0.12 per view for licensed movies and $0.13 per view for original features.

Netflix original movies are still the most popular feature titles on the service. Millie Bobby Brown fantasy film Damsel was the top film performer on the platform in H1, pulling in 144 million views, with F. Gary Grays heist comedy Lift starring Kevin Hart, second with 129 million views. The top acquired film was Universals The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which ranked 18th overall with just 80 million views. Universal animated hit Minions drew 73 million views, Sonys The Equalizer 3 some 54 million. But that is also a question of access. Netflix original films go out to all its users worldwide simultaneously, acquired films are often limited to certain territories and staggered over a longer period due to different licensing agreements.

Interestingly, the report found that original films have a quicker decay rate meaning viewership declines more rapidly over time than acquired titles. Looking at successful films, ones that had at least 12 million views at the start of their run on the platform, over a one-year period from H1 2023 to H1 2024, Ampere found that originals started higher with an average of 30 million views but fell off quickly, averaging just 9 million views a year on. Acquired hits, by contrast, drew 20 million views on average on launch but were stronger a year in, with an average of 12 million views, suggesting acquired movies have a long-term appeal.

Of acquired movies, those licensed from major U.S. studios have the longest shelf life, with library titles, defined as those first released before 2020, showing the strongest holding power. Average viewership decay for a major studio library title was just 29 percent over the one-year period, the report found, against 49 percent for newer studio titles and 57 percent for non-major library films.

Netflix appears to be shifting more towards acquisitions in its movie strategy, with original film commissions, measured by the number of titles, at 105 last year, 45 percent down from an all-time peak of 190 commissioned titles in 2021. Acquired titles accounted for 84 percent of the streamers global film catalog last year, the report found, up from 80 percent in 2023. Acquired films have also made up the overwhelming majority of movies on Netflix. Just 5 years ago, licensed titles accounted for 91 percent of the platforms feature film offering.

Looking ahead, Netflix plans to continue integrating major studio films into its library, last October expanding its NBCUniversal deal for animated features and adding U.S. rights to live-action titles from both Universal Pictures and Focus Features. The agreement will see live-action films drop on Netflix no later than eight months following their theatrical release, the PVOD window and a four-month streaming bow on Peacock.

What still hasnt changed is Netflixs attitude to theatrical. Our core strategy is to give our members exclusive first-run movies on Netflix, noted CEO Ted Sarandos, noting that short theatrical windows, like the companys two-week Imax bow next year for Greta Gerwigs Narnia adaptation, will remain the exception to the online-first, online-only rule.