The ABC network three years ago handed its most lucrative night of the week — Thursday — to its most prolific producer, Shonda Rhimes. ABC grouped three Rhimes-produced shows together and promoted the bloc as “Thank God It’s Thursday.” So Netflix’s announcement late Sunday that Rhimes would be moving her Shondaland production company to the streaming service was a gut punch to ABC. The network has raked in hundreds of millions of dollars over the years in advertising revenue and foreign distribution fees from the sale of Rhimes’ shows.
The prolific showrunner behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and more has left her longtime home at ABC Studios for the streaming giant. Under the multiple-year deal, Rhimes and her Shondaland banner will create and produce new projects for the streaming giant. Rhimes’ longtime producing partner Betsy Beers will continue to head Shondaland in the move to Netflix. Under what is said to be a rich four-year pact, Rhimes is expected to score a percentage of the back-end on programming she creates for Netflix.
Exclusives
“I want the humans to be able to hold their own against the strength of the machines.” That was perhaps the most ominous line spoken from the stage at the summer Television Critics Association press tour, and it came not from an actor or showrunner but FX Networks chief John Landgraf. He wasn’t describing the plot of a new scripted drama. He turned to the classic science fiction trope as a metaphor for the situation that he and other cable programming executives now find themselves in as Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple engage in a “titanic struggle” — Landgraf’s words — for domination in the video entertainment marketplace.
Walt Disney Co’s shares fell 5% on Wednesday to their lowest in eight months as investors doubted whether the world’s biggest entertainment company can succeed with its plan to launch its own streaming services rather than rely on Netflix Inc to reach online viewers.
Disney’s creating its own streaming service for its central Disney and Pixar brands and another for live sports. That would allow it to bypass the cable companies it relies on — and Netflix — to charge consumers directly for access to its popular movies and sporting events. “They’re bringing the future forward. What they talked about were things that looked inevitable, at some point,” said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Weiser. (AP photo / Richard Drew)
David Letterman is returning to a regular TV gig, setting a deal with Netflix for a show that will combine long-form interviews with reports from the field. Netflix has ordered six episodes of the hourlong series, to be produced by New York-based RadicalMedia and Letterman’s Worldwide Pants banner. The untitled show is targeted to debut next year.
Netflix says it made its first acquisition, comic book publisher Millarworld, with plans to turn its characters into new films and shows for the video streaming service. Millarworld’s graphic novels “Kick-Ass,” […]
A growing number of U.S. cable operators are forming alliances with Netflix, a shift that is helping the streaming pioneer add customers as its largest single market matures. “We’re now looking at proposals for including Netflix in some services and beginning to learn the bundling part of the business,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says.
The streaming service has accumulated a hefty $20.54 billion in long- and short-term debt in its effort to produce more original content. The company hopes more new shows will capture more subscribers, its primary revenue driver. It’s also under pressure to keep spending on new shows as streaming rivals such as Amazon and Hulu expand their own slates of original programming.
Verizon Wireless customers this week noticed that Netflix’s speed test tool appears to be capped at 10Mbps, raising fears that the carrier is throttling video streaming on its mobile network. When contacted by Ars this morning, Verizon acknowledged using a new video optimization system but said it is part of a temporary test and that it did not affect the actual quality of video. The video optimization appears to apply both to unlimited and limited mobile plans.
Netflix is celebrating strong subscriber growth in the second quarter, but the company’s continued cash burn could become a concern soon. Free cash flow for Netflix this quarter came in at -$608 million, up from -$254 million during the year-ago quarter. The company expects FCF for the full year to be between -$2 billion and -$2.5 billion. Jefferies analyst John Janedis expects FCF will fall directly in the middle of that estimate and that it will total -$2 billion next year. But he’s less sure if it will get worse in the future.
Netflix is pulling in new viewers and award nominations in droves, but the online video service still faces a long-term problem: Its acclaimed programming lineup is costing far more money than what subscribers pay for it.
The Parks Associates study also found that 88% of computer-based viewing is from nonlinear sources, and that 72% of nonpay TV subscribers subscribe to an OTT video service, which is their primary source for content
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The fans have spoken, and the canceled Netflix series “Sense8” is coming back next year for a two-hour final episode. Netflix and show co-creator Lana Wachowski […]
For years, Netflix was seen as the dream spot for TV shows: a seemingly unlimited budget, and without the pressure of ratings because executives don’t reveal them. So even though you may have never heard of shows such as Flaked or Haters Back Off, it wasn’t too surprising that they were renewed. However, that era of Netflix may be coming to an end.
Encouraged by streaming services like Netflix, networks are spending heavily to get their shows noticed by prospective Emmy voters.
Netflix has, for the first time, surpassed cable in total subscribers according to Leichtman Research. US cable companies have 48.61 million subscribers while Netflix has just hit 50.85 million. The numbers don’t count minor cable networks, which could in themselves amount to 5% of total cable customers.
At the annual ATX Television Festival, panelists discussed Netflix’s heavy-hitting style and how executives now look at online chatter to evaluate a show’s success.
CTAM released its schedule for summer press tour Wednesday. That schedule, which for the first time includes streaming services alongside pay-cable channels such as HBO, Discovery, and TNT, did not include dates for Netflix or Amazon.
Ellen DeGeneres will appear in a brand new stand up special for Netflix. The daytime host made the announcement on Twitter Wednesday morning.
It has been a wild, rocky ride, but Netflix, which ended its 15th year as a public company on Monday, is pacing ahead of Amazon as a dream investment. Since ending its first day of trading in 2002 at an adjusted $1.20 per share, Netflix stock has gained 12,997% to close Monday at $157.16.
