When it comes to spending money on content, streaming services have spared no expenses in the wake of the streaming wars. Back in October, reports came out that Netflix planned on raising $2 billion in debt in order to buff up their content budget. The revenue would be spent on “content acquisitions, production and development, capital expenditures, investments, working capital and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions,” CNBC reported.
Now, Variety points out that a new report by Wall Street firm BMO Capital Markets says Netflix is projected to spend $17 billion on content this year. The number is up $2 billion from the $15.3 billion they spent last year and the company is expected to have spent over $26 billion by 2028, according to BMO.
Though Netflix’s numbers are significantly higher than their competitors’ budgets, they’re not the only company pulling all the stops on when it comes to spending on content. Back in August, the Financial Times reported that Apple TV+ upped their content budget from $1 billion to a whopping $6 billion.
In December, Variety reported that AT&T is expecting to spend up to $2 billion on HBO Max in 2020 and investing an additional $1 billion in each of the following two years. This is before HBO Max even achieves profitability in 2025. The streaming service, which will launch in May 2020, will be “the key aspect of the video strategy going forward,” stated AT&T chief financial officer John Stephens at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit.
A study by MoffettNathanson predicted the streaming wars are going to cost Disney, Netflix and WarnerMedia $16 billion over the next four years, but now it seems that number is going to be surpassed before the year is up.