​Since TV networks began to embrace Netflix as a marketing tool rather than a rival, broadcasters held fast to the strategy of releasing past seasons of shows before the next season’s debut.

That strategy worked very well for some programmers, but networks are beginning to realize there is more to it than that. Analysts and TV insiders have noted that exclusive deals with platforms like Netflix are risky, as they could take viewers away from networks’ own on-demand or streaming options.

Fox and Time Warner are leading the charge in creating a more well-balanced streaming diet for its content, starting with non-Netflix platforms.

Fox’s James Murdoch mentioned at the Goldman Sachs conference that “the business rules around how we sell to SVOD providers are changing.” Fox signed a deal with Hulu last year to give the streaming platform rights to FX content. Fox has made more deals with Hulu than Netflix recently, partly because Hulu has the potential to grow and it pays per subscriber, as opposed to Netflix’s flat fees (not to mention Fox has a stake in Hulu, along with Disney and Comcast).

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes added at the conference that his media company is trying to find “the right balance to strike” with streaming options. “You don’t want the money that they offer you to replace more money that somebody else used to be able to offer you,” said Bewkes. Time Warner networks like TNT and TBS are pushing for a more significant on-demand strategy, working with pay-TV distributors to make more than one season of a show available on demand so viewers can catch up with a show like they would on Netflix.

Then there are networks who have an all-inclusive approach to streaming, like AMC. The Walking Dead network has sold old seasons of shows to Netflix, but recently made a deal with Hulu for rights to its companion series Fear the Walking Dead.

Read more at Ad Age.

Brief Take: Marketers have come a long way to see Netflix more as a promotional partner than rival, but now networks are beginning to more creatively strategize what that means for their shows and their audiences.

[Image courtesy of Hulu]

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