“By the way, wait for the epic titanic battle for talent that’s coming,” FX Networks President John Landgraf said while discussing the growth of new streaming platforms and the demand for producing more original content to draw viewers.
Since Landgraf’s Television Critics Association press tour session, Disney has announced the creation of its own streaming service to come, Robert Kirkman has struck a deal with Amazon, Netflix has assembled the Coen Brothers, Mark Millar, and, most recently, one of TV’s most prolific executive producers, Shonda Rhimes, as new content producers.
The war for talent isn’t coming. It’s already here, and it’s likely not going to end anytime soon.
Each of these announcements, on their own, are major for each respective company, and together they paint a picture of just what the TV landscape looks like in 2017 and beyond.
Rhimes’ deal is the most recent, and certainly one of the most notable. Through her ShondaLand Productions studio, Rhimes has created some of the most-watched and most-talked about dramas on network TV — Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder among them.
Rhimes’ shift to Netflix leaves ABC without one of its most critically acclaimed and viewed showrunners, though interestingly the network today announced a four-year, $20 million deal with Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse.
Rhimes’ move to Netflix leaves ABC without one of its most acclaimed and viewed showrunners.
While a few of Rhimes more recent attempts at shows haven’t quite landed, her stalwarts have proven Rhimes mettle as both a talent herself and a producer with an eye for raising talent around her. Her move to Netflix will allow her to bring her must-watch sensibility to the service while also potentially setting up a future stable of showrunners to one day work with the service independently as well.
Netflix also recently enlisted late night legend David Letterman and beloved filmmakers the Coen Brothers for original programming. But the service’s biggest move may be the acquisition of Mark Millar’s Millarworld, opening up the potential for the streaming service to build its own comic book cinematic universe rather than tying into one owned by another studio — as it does with Marvel.
Amazon is similarly shoring up its original content slate. Robert Kirkman, whose The Walking Dead comics have turned into a ratings empire for AMC, will now partner with the service via his Skybound Entertainment outfit. While Skybound’s Invincible is already set to be adapted into a film, there’s an entire comic book universe there to pull from, as well as from other titles like Green Valley, Thief of Thieves, and more. (Skybound’s partnership with game developer Night School Studio’s also offers Amazon up as a potential platform for Oxenfree adaptations and more.)
That’s not to mention the broader moves being made by studios and networks to establish themselves in the streaming space. FX recently announced FX+, a streaming supplement to its networks that offers ad-free viewing of shows as they air, a back catalog of FX programs, and more. Disney also recently announced it will be pulling out of its partnership with Netflix to save its film and TV output for a Disney streaming service in 2019 (though it will continue supporting partnerships like the already established Netflix/Marvel series.)
Streaming networks are looking to shore up talent because, as the space becomes ever-more crowded — and FX and Disney’s plans indicate it will only continue to become a packed field — having original content by beloved creators is what will draw viewers to subscribe to your system.
“We started making original content five years ago, betting this would happen,” Netflix’s CCO Ted Sarandos said in a recent interview.
Think of it in terms of gaming — even with boxes that perform comparably, Xbox and PlayStation vie for attention during the year’s biggest showcases with their exclusives. Microsoft touts Halo and Gears of War while Sony pulls from its internal studios for titles like The Last of Us and Spider-Man. And of course Nintendo is built on an empire of first-party games.
Streaming services are looking to do the same thing now as the field becomes more competitive. Rather than solely relying on libraries filled with third-party content, those studios may decide to abandon those deals one day. Original content stabilizes those libraries and gives control to the first-party services. And by latching onto beloved brands or names like Rhimes, Kirkman, and Millar, services can hope to pull in fans of their work and those who may not know their content but like similar shows that streaming platforms can recognize as popular among their viewers.
Building up that store of original content helps in both the short-term of drawing subscribers as many make the move to cut their cable packages partially or entirely. But they also ensure a back catalog of content that they never have to worry about lapsing because an agreement has ended and a third party decides not to renew. (Much as 20th Century Fox did with Netflix, which caused Joss Whedon’s filmography to disappear.)
The war for viewers has segued into a war for talent.
And that war for viewers and content has segued into a war for those who can make that content, as John Landgraf discussed earlier this month at the TCAs.
“...We’re going to have to fight really, really hard to hold on to talent,” Landgraf said. “We’re going to have to fight with the quality of our relationships and our support of them and hope that we can do that and pay them enough profits and enough money to hold our own.” Streaming services becoming completely or even majorly dependent on in-house content is likely a ways off — Ted Sarandos has said he believes Netflix is “a couple years from” its library being half originally produced, half external content.
But the rapid pace at which these talent-specific deals are popping up is a clear signifier that these services are moving in that direction.
We’ll likely continue to see more services announced, and those with the money to do so continuing to sign exclusive deals with talent. Landgraf noted that the number of streaming platforms jumped to 62 versus 51 this same time last year. (And from those services, 79 pilots have been announced for 2017 that have yet to air this year, in addition to the 62 streaming series already released in 2017.)
One other wildcard, the impact of which will truly not be known for, at minimum, months, is Apple. The company poached Sony Pictures TV executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht — whose rule at the studio led to shows like Breaking Bad, The Shield, Damages, and many more successes, and most recently announced the hiring of former WGN president Matt Cherniss.
Coupled with the tens of billions of dollars the company has at the ready, Apple has the potential to finally enter the TV space in a way the company has wanted to but never fully done in years past. The company is reportedly looking to spend $1 billion in the next year on its path to making 10 original series with the cache of a House of Cards or Game of Thrones. (For comparison, Sarandos believes Netflix will be spending a possible — and still relatively massive — $7 billion on original programming next year.) Though Apple is, of course, in a unique position, as it wouldn't want to totally push out its competitors in the original programming space or they would be less inclined to allow their shows to be downloaded via iTunes.
“It’s like getting shot in the face with money every day,” Landgraf joked of facing this sort of competition.
One other wildcard in this changing landscape is Apple.
And it seems as if more of that money will continue to going toward securing exclusive talent and thus their content. What Landgraf hopes this doesn’t lead to, however, is that talent having a limited number of outlets to sell their ideas to.
“I don’t want artists to find themselves in a situation where there’s only two buyers that matter. That just doesn’t seem like a good outcome for and ultimately I care about editorial curation and control at the human level,” Landgraf said.
At this rate, there’s no certainty of which services will stick around and which will fold — in fact, Landgraf expects a culling of services to eventually come. But in the short-term, expect to see more stories like those of Rhimes and Kirkman become increasingly common as Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Disney, FX, and many more battle for the best in the industry — as they battle for your subscriptions.
Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN who has started to lose track of all of his subscriptions. Find him talking about the latest TV, games, and movies on Twitter @jmdornbush.
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