Netflix to Double Production of Original Series Next Year

"We will have about 16 original scripted series this year growing to 31 next year," chief content officer Ted Sarandos said during a conference call with analysts.

Original productions are one of the biggest expenditures for Netflix, which counts on unique content to differentiate it from competitors and attract new subscribers.

The company, Sarandos said, was increasing the scale of its productions while also working to "maintain the quality and excitement" of some of its best-known hits such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black."

In addition to its series, Netflix also has 10 feature films in various stages of production, from preproduction to just released, he said.

Netflix is available in more than 50 countries and has announced it aims to be present in every country by the end of 2016.

"It's not been an easy road because all of the studios and networks have situated themselves to be regional sellers," Sarandos said.

Netflix, the world's largest video streaming on-demand service, has some 69 million users.

Netflix in October reported third-quarter US subscriber additions below its own forecast, blaming a transition to chip-based cards for the miss.

US credit and debit card companies have been shifting to chip-enabled cards ahead of the October 1 deadline mandated for the switch.

For Netflix, the switch meant that many of the older cards on its file no longer worked as the companies gave new cards to their customers, leading to "involuntary churn," as Chief Executive Reed Hastings put it in a letter to shareholders.

Written with agency inputs