For years, Netflix execs have been TV bingeing’s biggest cheerleaders.
The Los Gatos streamer pioneered the release of all episodes of a series at once, which led to people spending hours behind their screens trying to consume entire seasons in one weekend.
But on March 4, the Hollywood disruptor begins his foray into a format as old as television itself – live programming – with a highly anticipated comedy special from Chris Rock.
Rock will be the first artist to perform a live comedy special on Netflix with his show, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. The hour-long special could draw a huge audience to the streaming service as fans expect him to talk about how Will Smith beat him at the Academy Awards last year. There will also be a pre-show and post-show with other entertainers including Ronny Chiang, David Spade and Dana Carvey.
Netflix’s binge-and-burn model has made it the largest subscription streaming service in the world, with approximately 231 million paying members.
But with the market flooded with competing streamers, it’s no longer enough to just have a large library of shows and a list of popular original programs available. Netflix is looking for ways to turn its shows into must-see events.
Under pressure to contain costs as they grow their businesses, Netflix and other streaming services have canceled shows and laid off employees. At the same time, Netflix has been experimenting with new types of content (including games), while borrowing from some of the old ways of doing TV business, such as: B. Advertising.
Attending live shows — an effort to catch old-school dates — is part of that effort to fend off competition and boost viewership.
“Netflix is looking for ways to be competitive and show consumers why they should subscribe to Netflix because there are so many choices now,” said Brett Sappington, vice president of Culver City-based market research firm Interpret, which advises the company. in media, technology and entertainment. “Netflix now has to prove every month why it’s still valuable.”
Netflix declined to comment.
By delving into the live TV realm, Netflix is rediscovering what traditional broadcasters and cable have understood for generations. Events like the Super Bowl or the World Series are popular with viewers because it’s an experience everyone can talk about in real time.
And while ratings for awards shows like the Oscars have dropped over the years, they still attract millions of viewers and spark conversations across cultures, because as last year’s awards show proved, anything can happen in a live setting. It may also entice people to watch the Chris Rock special, which comes almost a year after the infamous Oscar slapping incident.
“Live can engage consumers in a way that on-demand just doesn’t have the volume,” said Sappington. “If you can only watch it on Netflix, everyone who saw it should go to Netflix to make sure they’re part of it. They don’t want to miss that.”
Last year, Netflix hosted an in-person comedy festival with 336 comedians performing in Los Angeles and selling more than 260,000 tickets. During one of the performances, comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked by a man with a replica gun at the Hollywood Bowl. Rock later quipped onstage, “Was that Will Smith?” Netflix also signed a deal to stream the annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Netflix starting in 2024.
“Live television isn’t a very new thing, but we’re doing it, starting with our Chris Rock live concert, to try to create the excitement around live for the things that are more unique about being live,” Netflix co-CEOs said. Ted Sarandos, in a January earnings call.
Other streaming services have already opted for live events. Paramount+ aired the Grammys with CBS in February, while Disney+ aired a live Elton John concert from Dodger Stadium last year.
A big area of interest for streamers is esports, long seen as the final frontier for online video – and one of the last things to keep the traditional bundle of cables intact.
Amazon pays $1 billion annually to stream 15 Thursday night NFL games, while Apple TV+ has signed deals with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer to broadcast games.
Netflix has resisted the urge to dive into live sports, a business that comes at an astronomical cost because of the royalties popular leagues can charge for broadcast and streaming rights.
“We haven’t been able to figure out how to make a profit renting major league sports in our subscription model,” Sarandos said in January.
Instead, Netflix is walking the tried and true path of stand-up comedy, a category it has long invested in and encouraged.
Netflix’s comedy offerings have at times sparked controversy, including within the company. Netflix employees have walked out in protest over how the company handled their concerns about transphobic language in Chappelle’s The Closer special. Ricky Gervais’ comedy special “SuperNature” was criticized by GLAAD for “graphic, dangerous, antitrans rants disguised as jokes”.
But people tuned in anyway — “The Closer” spent at least a week in the top 10 Netflix shows in four countries, according to Netflix data, while “SuperNature” reached that level in 13 countries. The company updated its culture memo last year to say its library may contain content that conflicts with some employees’ personal values. “If you’re having a hard time supporting our broad content, Netflix may not be the best place for you,” the memo read.
Saturday’s event is Netflix’s latest foray into the stand-up comedy space, known as a personal passion for Sarandos. This is Rock’s second comedy special on Netflix, following 2018’s Chris Rock: Tamborine. Netflix paid Rock $40 million for the two specials, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Netflix declined to confirm the cost of the deal.
Michael Pachter, director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, wondered if the viewership for Rocks Special would justify the cost.
“There’s no way they’re getting $20 million for an hour of comedy,” Pachter said.
In recent years, Netflix has expanded its technology for live programming, but “hasn’t really tested it,” Sarandos said at an investor conference in December. Sarandos hinted that this could lead to live streams of other Netflix events, such as B. Episodes revealing the winners of a competition show or reality show reunion.
Source: LA Times