New research shows Netflix's big bet on the future is working, as it continues to outpace its competition (NFLX)

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Netflix's investment in original content appears to be paying off more and more in the eyes of consumers, according to research from Morgan Stanley.
In an annual survey from the firm, respondents have increasingly viewed Netflix as having the "best original programming," compared to premium cable outlets and other streaming services.

Netflix has been making a massive bet on its future for years now, and it's paying off.

This year, the streaming service is expecting to spend an estimated $8 billion on content. An increasing amount of that will go toward original TV shows and movies, which Netflix has been betting heavily on in preparation for a future when other media companies are less willing to license their content. (See Disney's Netflix competitor, which will debut in 2019.)

While it wasn't always clear that Netflix would be able to make the transition from licensing cheap back catalogs to producing its own hits, according to research from Morgan Stanley and AlphaWise, the streaming giant is well on its way.

In a survey of 3,100 US residents this year, the firms found that 39% of respondents viewed Netflix as having the "best original programming," compared to the offerings from premium cable outlets (like HBO) and other streaming services (like Amazon Prime Video and Hulu).

Perhaps more encouraging for Netflix investors is that the company has also increased the share of consumers who think it has the "best original programming" every year since 2014.

Here's the chart that shows Netflix's progress:

morgan stanley netflix

Netflix has seen a steady increase in favorability in this particular survey since 2014, when the streaming service was in just its second year of producing original programming.

Netflix released its first original show, "House of Cards," in 2013, and it expects to release around 700 shows and movies this year.

Further illustrating consumer perception of Netflix's prevalence in the field, over half of Netflix users in the survey cited "good original programming" as their reason for subscribing to Netflix.

Morgan Stanley also found that Netflix is nearing a mass-market hold of the age 18-29 demographic, as 70% of people in that age group reported using the service.

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