Netflix's success can be difficult to quantify. The streaming platform has, in a relatively short amount of time, come to dominate the entertainment industry, fundamentally changing the way we consume TV. With multiple Emmy and Golden Globe awards for original TV drama, thanks to shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, Netflix is now moving further into the tricky territory of movies. After making headlines at this year’s Cannes Film Festival thanks to controversy over theatre-owners’ opposition to their inclusion with competition entries Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories, the company is hoping to get a foot in the Oscar game for the first time with awards hopefuls like Dee Rees’ Sundance hit Mudbound. Add to that a strong presence at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, where Bright and Death Note made waves, and things seem to be going pretty well. Netflix even recently announced that their worldwide subscriber numbers topped 100 million this year. Truly, it seems like Netflix could be heading for a golden age.

The only problem is that Netflix's business model is somewhat suspect. A recent report from Bloomberg revealed that Netflix Inc., currently valued at $78bn, had a "negative free cash flow of $2.1 billion in the 12 months ended June 30 and is on the hook to pay more than $13 billion in the next three years for its entertainment programming." To put it simply: Netflix is in a ton of debt, and is continuing to build up more debt in order to pay for its content.

That's a shocking figure to see under any circumstances, but especially for a business that's prided itself on seeming financially invincible. This is the service that happily spends over $100m on new TV series like The Get Down and The Crown, drops $12.5m for one film at Sundance (Mudbound), and paid the stars of the Gilmore Girls reunion around $750,000 each per episode. That’s the kind of money that most networks just don’t have or aren’t willing to spend; even HBO had to make sacrifices thanks to expensive flops like Vinyl. For many years, Netflix has worked hard to maintain the aura that it has money to burn and is willing to spend big to get results.

Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve from Stranger Things

It’s only been in the past couple of months that we’ve seen that impenetrable façade begin to crumble. Netflix canceled no fewer than three original shows in as many months – The Get Down, Sense8 and Girlboss. This wouldn’t be notable at other networks, where shows are canceled without much thought, but up until that point it had taken Netflix five years to cancel the same number of series. Both The Get Down and Sense8 were expensive dramas to produce, with The Get Down becoming the most costly TV show ever thanks to a rumored average price of $16m an episode. Girlboss was a cheaper affair but didn’t gather the critical or audience interest to justify a second season.

Netflix seems all too happy to maintain massive debt if the investment is worthwhile, and for these three shows that didn’t seem to be the case (although Sense8 is getting a one-off finale episode after fans protested its initial cancelation). Marco Polo, Netflix’s first attempt at a major big-budget drama, left viewers cold and was canceled after two seasons, allegedly resulting in a whopping $200m loss for the service. Few networks would ever let a failing show that expensive run long enough to accumulate that kind of loss. Netflix’s lack of released data detailing how many people actually watch their original content means we can only speculate what makes or breaks a show or film for them.

Many of those costly gambles have brought positive attention – The Crown and Stranger Things are set to be Emmy darlings this year – but if those $100m shows aren’t bringing in enough subscribers to justify the cost, how does that balance the books? By contrast, a traditional cable network like HBO can spend tens of millions of dollars on a show like Game of Thrones or Westworld and offset that cost through various methods. Like Netflix, subscribers are their main source, but they can also sell those shows worldwide to dozens of countries, then make extra cash through DVD sales. Netflix is almost exclusively reliant on subscribers and everything is distributed worldwide through that channel, with DVD availability kept limited (you can buy a box-set of Orange is the New Black but not Stranger Things or BoJack Horseman).

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Ahn Seo-Hyun's character in Okja

Netflix is also keen to offer something new to Hollywood, enticing film-makers like Martin Scorsese to the service with promises of financial support and creative freedom. Bong Joon-ho, the director of Okja, expressed joy with this arrangement, and presented a sharp contrast with his experience making Snowpiercer, which The Weinstein Company essentially dumped in North American theatres after an acrimonious relationship with Bong. While Netflix doesn’t release viewership numbers, it must be exciting for an indie filmmaker to imagine their small film reaching a hundred million people with a few clicks. On the flipside, many critics have questioned Netflix’s habit of buying up such indie films and seemingly dumping them on the service with little to no promotion. Okja had a long and public campaign, but I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore - which won the Audience Award at Sundance - vanished without a trace once it hit Netflix. Keeping creators interested may prove harder than getting viewers to subscribe.

As noted by Bloomberg, it's not unusual for companies like Netflix or Disney to go into massive debt, but unlike The Walt Disney Company, Netflix has no free cash coming in to cover basic costs, forcing the company to sell bonds twice last fall in order to finance programming. Those investments will be a constant process, as they are for any network, but few of them are casually throwing down $150m for the new Scorsese film.

For many years, it seemed as though Netflix's content strategy was akin to throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. The streaming service commissioned everything - from Adam Sandler movies to experimental dramas to war documentaries to restorations of Orson Welles classics. There's something new to enjoy every few days, and if you don't like that then just wait a bit to see what else comes along. This is an immensely ambitious business plan for Netflix, and one that easily outdoes competitors like Hulu or Amazon, who tend to be more specific in their content choices. Give viewers more than the competition combined and they’ve no reason not to sign up for membership. This is certainly a sign of Netflix's long-game plans, which we’ve already seen have a massive influence on traditional media. “Netflix and chill” may be a funny meme, but it's also emblematic of how the service has made huge shifts to the typical home viewing experience.

Any investor looking at Netflix’s numbers wouldn’t be blamed for thinking twice about where their money went, but it’s clear that the company’s plans go far beyond this decade and the realms of traditional business practices. Perhaps that's why Netflix seems so blasé about admitting to such debt. They know that if their gamble pays off, it won't just make them rich - it'll allow them to become this generation's media titan, eclipsing everyone from Disney to Apple. Get enough people to Netflix and Chill, and the entire game of entertainment will be changed.

NEXT: WHY IS NETFLIX CANCELING SO MANY SHOWS?