Netflix Plans $800 Million Debt Offering To Pay For More Original Programming

2016 has been Netflix’s most productive year when it comes to original programming, and based on the streaming video on-demand platform’s recent actions, it has no plans to let up its production binge in 2017. It has announced its plan to raise $800 million in new debt, and it will spend much of the resulting funds on its original programming initiatives.

As Variety notes, this latest offering will bring Netflix’s total debt above three million. The new funds will be allocated for “general corporate purposes,” according to Netflix, and original programming potentially falls under that banner. The SVOD platform plans to spend somewhere in the vicinity of $6 billion on content, and it ideally would like half of its TV shows and movies to be original productions.

The announcement of the new debt comes on the heels of Netflix’s strong performance in the third quarter of 2016, which has caused the company’s stock to skyrocket. The Q3 boom was driven in part by original programs like Narcos, which according to Netflix catalyzed larger-than-expected subscriber growth across the world.

The question is whether Netflix is getting in too far over its head with its prolonged originals push. Many online video platforms, including YouTube, are not profitable, but Netflix’s costs seem to be skyrocketing. The most egregious example is the original series The Get Down, which according to Deadline saw its budget balloon to around $200 million. The degree to which Netflix’s Wall Street success hinges on its content has some analysts seeing it as a risky investment, but no matter the platform’s future, it has now guaranteed that it will be putting a lot more content in front of its viewers.