Netflix to Dominate Reality TV in 2017 by Launching 20 New Unscripted Series

Netflix is making a big unscripted push next year with the launch of 20 new series.

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2016 has been a landmark year for Netflix, who added a few more instaclassics to its roster of critically acclaimed original series while inspiring headlines about the decline of cable. According to Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos, the streaming giant is looking to outdo itself in 2017 by launching 20 (yes, 20) unscripted series and doubling its slate of scripted productions.

"Unscripted television is a very interesting business," Sarandos said at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference Monday, the Wrapreported. "The content itself seems to be largely interchangeable. Meaning, if you want to see a show about hoarding, there are three different shows about hoarding." True. But where does 20 hours of reality TV fit into Netflix's larger plans for the future?

For Sarandos, the important thing moving forward is to avoid getting trapped in any particular "model" by constantly taking logical steps toward reinvention. "What we try to do is take very measured swings for the fences, if that's possible," Sarandos said Monday, according toVariety. As part of their big unscripted push, Netflix is betting on global success for upcoming series like Sylvester Stallone's Ultimate Beastmaster. "When Beastmaster hits in Korea, they'll never have seen anything like it," Sarandos added.​

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This promise of a swath of fresh original content for 2017 comes just one week after Netflix announced the launch of downloads, just in time for the woes of migraine-inducing holiday travel. "While many members enjoy watching Netflix at home, we've often heard they also want to continue their Stranger Things binge while on airplanes and other places where internet is expensive or limited," Eddy Wu, director of production innovation at Netflix, said in a press release last week. With all this new shit that’s purportedly coming out next year, we all might need to start making room on our respective devices for some offline binging.

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