Netflix pumped out hundreds of original shows and movies this year

Netflix is making piles of content and asking questions later. The streaming service released 371 original shows and movies this year, not counting kids media, up from 240 in 2018. The 54.6 percent bump comes amid growing competition and general exhaustion from facing the volume of modern media.

The Hollywood Foreign Press is still watching — By increasing its output by more than half, Netflix nearly tripled its Golden Globe nominations. Throwing everything at the wall resulted in more critical acclaim, but most of it is centered on a handful of Netflix Originals. Nineteen of its 34 nods went to just four titles: “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” “The Crown,” and “Unbelievable.”

The Platinum Age of Television — In the modern Golden Age of Television, cable and premium cable dominated with likes of The Sopranos and Mad Men. In 2005, only 292 shows aired across all TV networks, according to data from Variety Insight. Though the Netflix data includes original movies and specials, the platform’s ability to produce more than the entire industry speaks both to its dominance and a media bubble on the brink of being popped.

Five years ago, when streaming services established themselves as competitors and deep-cable channels created hits of their own, there were 1,700 television series total (352 were scripted). Industry Nostradamus and FX Networks CEO John Landgraf has made a series of mostly accurate predictions about this unchecked growth and the inevitable quality decline.

As we head into 2020 with a wider crop of streaming options, scripted series are expected to exceed 500 shows across platforms. Though the bubble has yet to burst, Netflix is already facing quantity over quality criticism and society continues to move away from lightning rod shows of the pre-streaming era.