[ad_1]
HBO is renting out one in every of its most respected sequence to Netflix.
Each season of “Intercourse and the Metropolis,” the HBO comedy that aired from 1998 to 2004, will start streaming on Netflix for the primary time in early April, in keeping with three folks accustomed to the deal.
HBO had a longstanding coverage of not licensing its reveals to Netflix till final yr, when it despatched over titles together with “Six Toes Beneath,” “Insecure,” “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific” and “Ballers.” A number of of those older sequence shortly leaped into Prime 10 most-watched streaming lists after they started showing on Netflix.
Now “Intercourse and the Metropolis,” which had been licensed to cable networks, will probably be supplied on Netflix as effectively. It was not clear how a lot Netflix can pay to license the sequence, probably the most illustrious titles in HBO’s library.
In contrast to the opposite sequence HBO has licensed to Netflix, “Intercourse and the Metropolis” is a part of an ongoing franchise for the corporate. The “Intercourse and the Metropolis” spinoff sequence, “And Simply Like That,” streams on HBO’s streaming service and is making ready manufacturing for a 3rd season. Executives mentioned final yr that “And Simply Like That” ranked as probably the most watched unique reveals on its Max streaming service. The spinoff will stay accessible solely on Max, two of the folks mentioned.
For Netflix, the event is additional proof that the streaming service is benefiting from the tight monetary scenario that lots of its rivals are confronting. HBO’s father or mother firm, the debt-ridden Warner Bros. Discovery, will get an infusion of money from the deal, whereas Netflix accumulates extra beloved TV sequence and films, which retains folks subscribing.
“I’m thrilled that the studios are extra open to licensing once more, and I’m thrilled to inform them we’re open for enterprise,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-chief government, mentioned in a quarterly earnings name on Tuesday.
About 5 years in the past, media firms like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery pulled many common TV reveals and films, like “Associates,” “The Workplace” and “Moana,” from Netflix. The businesses needed to make use of common sequence to induce folks to subscribe to their new streaming companies, like Disney+ (which debuted in 2019) and Max (2020).
However a number of of these firms, nonetheless making an attempt to make significant earnings in streaming and battling nose-diving cable revenues, have reversed course. Warner Bros. Discovery has licensed the flicks “Dune” and “Prometheus” in current months, and Disney is renting out films and older sequence to Netflix as effectively.
Many executives and trade analysts have concluded that the return to licensing underscores the diminishing odds different streaming firms face in catching up with Netflix.
One media analyst, Jessica Reif Ehrlich of Financial institution of America, mentioned final week that the rise in licensing reveals to Netflix was a “tacit acknowledgment that not all media firms will have the ability to obtain Netflix’s world attain and scale in streaming.”
A analysis agency, MoffettNathanson, instructed traders this week that Netflix benefited from a surge of licensed content material final yr, pointing to “Fits,” the outdated USA Community present that grew to become an surprising streaming hit, and “Younger Sheldon,” a Warner Bros. Discovery sitcom that was added to Netflix in November.
“Although this technique is making Netflix stronger and extra environment friendly, Netflix’s rivals seem prepared to feed the beast,” the agency mentioned.
Netflix reported on Tuesday it has 260 million subscribers worldwide. A number of rival streaming companies have solely a small fraction of that. And whereas many firms are shedding cash from their streaming companies, Netflix made greater than $5 billion in revenue final yr.
HBO has for years bought reveals into syndication whereas holding them again from Netflix. “The Sopranos” appeared on A&E, and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was on TV Land. “Intercourse and the Metropolis” was carried by the E! Community, TBS and Amazon Prime Video.
“We’ve got to be protecting of the reveals that now we have which can be profitable,” HBO’s chairman, Casey Bloys, mentioned at a information media occasion in November. “However I’ve labored in tv lengthy sufficient that syndication was once the pot of gold, that was the brass ring, that meant that your present was going to go on and have a life after its preliminary run.”
Mr. Bloys famous that a number of of the titles noticed an “uptick” in viewership on Max after they started streaming on Netflix. “Intercourse and the Metropolis,” like all of the HBO reveals on Netflix, will even proceed to be accessible on Max.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to see newer reveals anyplace else till years later, which is the syndication mannequin,” Mr. Bloys mentioned in November. “I’m comfy with it, and to date, it appears to be working. However once more, everyone’s simply experimenting at this level, making an attempt to determine how a lot is an excessive amount of.”
[ad_2]
Source link
