The series is complete
The Netflix Legacy of Sports Entertainment: How the Streaming Golden Age Turned Towards the WWE Paradigm and Netflix’s USA Network
Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said in a statement, “By combining our reach, recommendations, and fandom with WWE, we’ll be able to deliver more joy and value for their audiences and our members. Raw is the best of sports entertainment, blending great characters and storytelling with live action 52 weeks a year and we’re thrilled to be in this long-term partnership with WWE.”
Last year, that tide turned back. Insecure and Six Feet Under are shown on Warner Bros. Discovery. Some shows were licensed by Disney. And Netflix needed them. Over 17 billion hours are spent on original and licensed content on the service each year, with a good amount of this time spent on licensed properties. Netflix originals have gained ground in recent years, comprising 53 percent of total series viewing time on the platform in 2022, up from 22 percent in 2017. It is a gamble to make original content, and there has been a mixed record of success.
Prices are going up. Netflix currently costs $6.99 for two screens, 1080p, and ads, and a whopping $15.49 for two screens and no ads. If there’s a choice between spending that on Netflix’s giant grab bag of stuff and Apple TV’s pretty pristine library of well-made science fiction shows… a science fiction nerd might go with Apple TV as it’s just $9.99. They may choose Amazon because they get Thursday Night Football with Prime TV and there are no ads to worry about, or Disney because they have children and it starts at $7.99 with ads but you don’t need to watch ads, or Paramount since they have fantasies of being a cowboy.
This reversal of the streaming golden age is becoming similar to Spike TV circa 2005, which is likely to bring an end to the days of chasing prestige. The USA Network was first introduced in 2011. That isn’t a bad thing They put entertaining old films and TV shows in front of me, and captured success with the popular and outrageous game shows from overseas, as well as the US-dubbed of popular and outrageous game shows.
It feels like a shame that in a very competitive market, where every streaming service is trying to get you to pay more money, they could think that the top 10 list at NETFLIX is the lineup at TNT. It feels like that may be the plan of the company. It was announced today that it will be the new home of Monday Night Raw. Stuber oversaw three years in a row that the film studio was nominated for an Academy Award.
On the weekend of November 30th, I was in a hotel room in Memphis and gazing out at the iceskating rink in the parking lot, wanting to have a couple of hours with my mind off. I opened Netflix hoping to find a movie that would give me an evening’s respite. Scrolling down to the top 10, I was met with a who’s who of the 2010s and 2020s. Cowboy & Aliens, a great film with great cast, was on the list. Queenpins, the flop with a great cast, was also there. At the top of the list was The Legend of Tarzan, a 2016 flop with a great cast. I had never heard of the top 10 until I saw the Sylvester Stallone flick and a few other new releases.
