Netflix is back talking to Australian Production Companies with a view to producing an Australian TV series.
The US streaming Company who is set to make its “Originals” more original by shooting several new shows itself, instead of relying on outside studios has had discussions with at least two Australian Production Companies in recent months following the success of the IP based service in Australia where more than 1,500,000 people are believed to have signed up for the service.
According to Bloomberg the world’s largest paid video streaming service is considering filming Chelsea Handler’s new talk show at a space it leased last month in Hollywood, said a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named because the plans aren’t public. It’s also the studio behind a pair of comedy series announced earlier this year — “Flaked,” starring Will Arnett, and “Lady Dynamite,” featuring Maria Bamford, the person said.
Generally, most networks don’t produce their own shows but rather broadcast shows made by other production companies.
Mythbusters, for example, is broadcast on Discovery but is written, shot, and produced by Australia’s Beyond Television Productions.
Netflix has been following this same model of taking shows from outside studios and paying for the rights to be the sole broadcaster. And so far it’s worked out quite well – subscriptions are up and the network has garnered nearly a dozen Emmys, the first streaming network ever do so.
Bloomberg claims the move exposes Netflix to new financial risks — hiring the talent, renting equipment and overseeing budgets — but could also speed up its drive to offer a uniform service around the world. While the company controls global rights to many of the shows it brands as Netflix Originals, some of its biggest hits are owned by others: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
produces “Orange Is the New Black,” and Walt Disney’s Marvel unit created “Daredevil.” Netflix’s licenses will lapse at some point, making those series available to cable networks and online rivals.
“Obviously there’s benefits if we produce a show,” Chief Financial Officer David Wells said on the company’s most recent earnings call in July. “If there’s great reach across the world and we can distribute that show and it will be consumed and enjoyed across the world. So there’s tremendous benefits there in terms of just the scale of distributing it.”
Ownership also reduces the reliance on major media companies like 21st Century Fox Inc. and Time Warner Inc. that are revaluating their relationship with Netflix. Consumers are watching less broadcast and cable TV, and more online, undermining the most important source of revenue for networks whose in-house production arms previously viewed sales of new shows and reruns to Netflix as purely additive.
