It seems as if every studio in America is thinking of launching its own streaming platform. Disney is launching one and so is tech giant Apple. Hulu is around too. Fox is considering one as well. But the real battle, at least for now, is between Amazon and the most well-known streaming platform, Netflix.
As Netflix signs an exclusive deal with Ryan Murphy after snagging Shonda Rhimes in 2017, the streaming wars heat up.
It seems as if every studio in America is thinking of launching its own streaming platform. Disney is launching one and so is tech giant Apple. Hulu is around too. Fox is considering one as well. But the real battle, at least for now, is between Amazon and the most well-known streaming platform, Netflix.
Netflix, for its part, is taking the streaming wars very seriously. After snagging Shonda Rhimes from ABC network for a 100-million-dollar deal, the streaming giant has now signed an exclusive deal with Ryan Murphy for 300 million dollars. Murphy is quite possibly the busiest man in television and has delivered several iconic shows including Glee, American Horror Story and American Crime Story. Currently under contract with Fox, the hiring of Murphy by Netflix is seen by many in the industry as a warning shot that the streaming platform will go after top talent no matter what the cost.
As Hollywood Reporter noted, “That’s the Netflix strategy. Spend money to stockpile content. To have everything anyone would need to watch so they don’t go elsewhere. Subscribers follow, believing — correctly, at this point — that Netflix is the best streaming option for the money, leaving them less to spend on the next subscription, if there’s a next subscription. So, yes, this is a race. And, yes, content is king and content creators will be getting fat stacks.”
While Netflix has the big bucks, Amazon too is making major moves. One of those moves was the hiring of Jennifer Salk, the former president of NBC Entertainment since 2011 who was responsible for hits like This Is Us. She is now the new head of Amazon Studios.
Salk is looking to take Amazon to greater heights with a Lord of the Rings TV show currently under development.
As for the rest of it, as numbers go, Netflix is looking to spend 8 billion dollars in 2018 on programming with Amazon following behind with 4.5 billion. Hulu will spend 2.5 billion dollars while Apple has 1 billion dollars to spend.
Peter Rice, president of Fox, speaking about Netflix’s spending habits, stated: “So Netflix spends $8 billion,” he said. “Fox will spend $12 billion on programing,” just for the TV network, “and Disney will probably spend $15 billion. Look at the expanse of Hollywood. Maybe Netflix is spending 10% of the overall content spend of Hollywood. That’s not a monopoly.”
It’s certainly not a monopoly but for now with Netflix throwing money at prolific content creators and Disney’s launch still a year away, we think more prominent migrations to Netflix will follow.
– With information from USA Today and The Hollywood Reporter
