Earning Emmy nominations, pop culture buzz and all-around rave reviews are great for any new TV series. And when showrunners and stars want to re-negotiate their deals, these factors all certainly help. But when that show is on Netflix, one vital things is missing: ratings.

While the cast of a show like “The Big Bang Theory” can go back to CBS and tout their ratings success in order to keep a show going or ask for higher pay, shows like “Orange is the New Black” or “House of Cards” don’t have that luxury.

“The Hollywood Reporter’s” showrunners roundtable this year included representatives from both networks and digital platforms, who agreed that a solid metric is necessary for such shows to survive. According to “Orange is the New Black’s” Jenji Kohan, no ratings or metric system “makes it hard to negotiate later,” she said. “Because it’s like, ‘I’m a hit—I think.’” It’s a sentiment that was echoed this week at NCTA’s The Cable Show, when A+E’s Nancy Dubuc pointed out that Netflix can boast of hit shows without any ratings backing it up. “We’d all like to be in a business where we don’t have to report our numbers too,” said Dubuc.

According to “The Hollywood Reporter,” this is an issue reflected in any related emerging digital option, where the technology often outpaces regulation and measurement. “In a typical network renegotiation, you use critical reviews, awards, ratings and ad revenue to support your argument,” said attorney David Fox. “Now you’ve got Netflix and other streaming channels, and you’ve got to find a new metric—that’s what everyone is looking for right now.”

Because without those metrics, how does the show know how much it’s worth, and perhaps more importantly for some streaming options, how does the advertiser know?

Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.

Brief Take: Without proper measurement for digital platforms like Netflix, showrunners and talent might take their game elsewhere, where they know they can re-negotiate according to the type of success they’re used to.

[Image courtesy of Netflix]

Tags:


  Save as PDF