The very definition of a slow news day–look at the calendar, duh–is when yet another story about how Netflix rules the world is dropped. Such was the case yesterday when THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Jessica Toonkel authored this flaggelation:
Netflix ascended by offering prestige TV and movies on demand for a monthly fee. Now, it is planning to introduce more of the fare that was core to the cable bundle.
The streamer has held conversations with Spotify about partnering on a number of projects such as a music awards show or a live concert series, people close to the conversations said. It has also discussed doing big celebrity interviews and shorter-turnaround documentaries to capture the news of the moment, some of the people said.
Millions of households that cut the cord or never had a cable bundle now rely on Netflix as their go-to home entertainment hub. Netflix is working to ensure that it has something for everyone, from scripted shows and movies to reality TV, comedy and live programming.
Right now, if you want such comfort food TV, you’re likely to be seeking out old-fashioned broadcast options , especially ABC and FOX. ABC is about to enter into its tenth consecutive summer of a slate of shiny floor reboots that have propelled their summer. We’ve already mused about their re-rebooting of MATCH GAME, which has replaced the toxic Alec Baldwin with Martin Short and recently taped their season in Montreal with an array of guest stars that includes Selena Gomez but sadly won’t include his now de facto partner in crime (and ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING) Steve Martin. As TV GUIDE’s Damian Holbrook gushed in the magazine’s cover story for the triple issue that hit newsstands and perhaps a supermarket checkout somewhere, they’re being joined by another season of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE, now a celebrity-exclusive tour de force for Jimmy Kimmel, who as true fans know first rose to prominence asking questions and snarkily introducing the sardonic emcee of the Comedy Central cult classic WIN BEN STEIN MONEY at roughly the same time that the OG version of the American MILLIONAIRE literally turned the summer viewing world upside down with audience levels not seen since the three-network pre-cable days. And FOX is devoting pretty much its entire schedule to unscripted fare, including a new season of THE 1 PER CENT CLUB, somehow deemed renewable at a 0.3 demo rating and under the perception that shuffling in the ubiquitous Joel McHale as host was the key to growth and success. Not to mention yet another Gordon Ramsey series, SECRET SERVICE. But hey, you can’t argue with ROIs, especially in these times.
So yeah, having conquered cable and won at least the SVOD streaming wars (we’ll leave the content creator debate and whether YouTube is really TV for another day), why shouldn’t Netflix go after this space? What, they shouldn’t be able to save a buck or two themselves?
Except when you look at some of the details into what and whom apparently got Toonkel so excited, it’s hard not to be just a bit dubious about whether Netfiix isgoing to reach the same levels of dominance they’ve achieved with their more honored fare. Ponder these highlights:
“Building the Band,” hosted by Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean, will feature musicians auditioning to be in bands. The twist: They don’t see one another until they start rehearsing together, according to people familiar with the situation. Think “Love Is Blind” meets “The Voice.”…Netflix is also rebooting the classic talent contest “Star Search”…Jeff Gaspin, who greenlighted “The Voice” at NBCUniversal, is spearheading Netflix’s effort to find the next great music competition show and expand unscripted content. The self-proclaimed pop-culture nut joined the company last year.
Maybe you missed that news like I did. Fortunately, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Rick Porter didn’t:
Gaspin will be vp unscripted series at the streamer, charged with curating and growing Netflix’s slate of reality programming. He joins Netflix a month after Jenn Levy, who previously oversaw unscripted series at the company, departed. Gaspin will report to Brandon Riegg, vp nonfiction series.
“I feel a bit like Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III: Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in,” Gaspin said in a statement. “I’m so thrilled to join Brandon and the unscripted team at Netflix. I was always most successful and happiest when I built or ran unscripted at VH1, Bravo and NBCU. I can’t wait to do the same at Netflix.”
If the concept of BUILDING THE BAND sounds familiar, spin notwithstanding, it’s been done plenty of times before, most notably via MTV’s MAKING THE BAND. STAR SEARCH had been in various stages of redevelopment in recent years under the now-expunged management of Village Roadshow in the hopes of reinvigorating a format that quickly failed in the shadow of the show it helped create, AMERICAN IDOL, and is now going to be looking to one-up it at a time when its popularity and ability to catapult talent to prominence is at its nadir. We’ve recently mused about that, too.
And Gaspin? As a network suit, he was in the right place at the right time, like many of us. He left that world more than a decade ago and under his own shingle, as Wikipedia chronicled, he served as Executive Producer for several series including Rhythm + Flow for Netflix, First Ladies for Showtime, and To Tell the Truth for ABC. He also just happened to be Riegg’s boss when the Netflix honcho was getting his sea legs at VH-1 and left the seat warm for him when he unceremoniously departed NBC roughly a year after being named its chairman–but not before he hired Riegg away from Disney into an SVP role.
Yep, if a protege of mine was in a position to give me a plum gig after years of unqualified success like that list attests to, I’d be pretty excited, too. Come to think of it, some of them are, but I guess they still haven’t gotten around to thinking about that possibility.
And earlier this week yet another greenlight decision from Gaspin made news, including the “exclusive” which VARIETY’s
Neil Patrick Harris will host a new game show for Netflix titled “What’s in the Box,” which the streamer describes as a “massive guessing game” where each decision could lead to “life-changing rewards.” The series will premiere sometime in December.
The format consists of giant boxes concealing “jaw-dropping” prizes. Pairs of contestants will face off in fast-paced trivia rounds, guessing what’s inside of each box. But, per Netflix, “winning a prize is just the beginning. As the game unfolds, shifting alliances and unexpected twists mean only those with sharp instincts – and a little luck – will hold onto their winnings and claim victory.”