Will Netflix Monopolize the Television Market?

The rise of scripted television content continues to grow, showing no signs of slowing down. By year’s end there could be anywhere from 430 to 450 scripted television shows, which would serve, once again, as a record for the industry, said John Landgraf, chief executive of FX Networks. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are a big part of this surge.

According to the NY Times, through July, 322 scripted shows were broadcasted, a 6 percent rise from the 304 at this point last year. And while basic cable, premium cable and the broadcast networks are relatively steady in volume year over year, digital services have had enormous increases: 49 shows have appeared on streaming services so far this year versus 24 at the same time last year. By 2017 we could see an increase to 500 scripted television shows. Netflix alone, currently has 71 shows (a combination of series already available for streaming and those that have been announced).

At the Television Critics Association media event Landgraf said “For reference, that’s more than the announced future output of HBO, Showtime, Starz and FX combined. And this list does not include Netflix’s dozens of original children’s series or documentary series or late-night series or even fully scripted series produced primarily in a language other than English — say, for example, a high-end French-language crime drama like ‘Marseille’ — because we are deeming a dubbed or subtitled show to be fundamentally noncompetitive in the U.S. with a show in English.”

The future of cable television series is uncertain due to the amount of money it costs to create good quality television. The average cost of producing and marketing an hour of television is now between $4 million and $5 million, up 20% from five years ago. This doesn’t take into account the production time it takes to make a unique yet creative television series that fans will follow. As we all know, no following equals poor ratings and a waste of millions of dollars, which in turn gets the show axed. Especially if it is in its freshman season.

Landgraf addressed an issue in regards to quality, both Netflix and cable programs may run into if they continue to take on such a heavy load. “Television shows are not like cars or operating systems, and they are not best made by engineers or coders in the same assembly line manner as consumer products which need to be of uniform size, shape and quality.” Meaning, too many shows could lead to more generic television series as there would be no time to dedicate quality effort to the uniqueness and creative vision of the show. Therefore we may see a decline, further down the line, in the amount of scripted television series cable or Netflix takes on in order to create great quality series.

Landgraf also voiced his concern over Netflix monopolizing the industry. “I just think that’s something that we as a society should be paying attention to in general. I think it would be bad for storytellers in general if one company was able to seize a 40-50-60% share in storytelling. I don’t think monopoly market shares are good for society, and I think they’d be particularly bad for society and storytellers if they were achieved in the storytelling genre.”

However, cable has an ace up its sleeve. A lot of cable TV series are attempting to step up their game by offering more diversity on screen and behind the camera. TV critic Maureen Ryan called out the large cable companies last year for the lack of women and minorities behind the camera. This may be what cable company’s need, in addition to more quality series, in order to compete with streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.

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