Crowded TV marketplace gets ready for Apple, Google & Facebook
Apple has more than $1-billion budgeted for original programming, Facebook wants its own version of “Scandal” and Google is ready to spend up to $3 million per episode on a drama.
The three digital giants have signalled to Hollywood that they are serious about entering a television landscape that Netflix and Amazon shook up just a few years ago. Their arrival will make an already hypercompetitive industry even more ferocious. This year, there are expected to be more than 500 scripted TV shows, more than double the number six years ago.
Although there have been some signs that the industry’s output may plateau - cable companies like A&E and WGN have said they are getting out of the scripted television business - the entry of Apple, Facebook and Google into the fray almost guarantees that the volume of shows will continue to grow, even as viewers grapple with a glut of programming and an expanding number of streaming platforms.
With the prospect of a flood of tech money about to rush in, Hollywood has welcomed the news.
“If you ask the creative community if we’re going to be competitive, the answer is yes,” said Robert Kyncl, the chief business officer at YouTube, which is owned by Google.
Still, many in the industry are taking a believe-it-when-we-see-it approach to the new players. Netflix and Amazon have made successful forays into scripted entertainment, but some efforts by digital titans like Microsoft and Yahoo have fizzled.
Scripted television is enormously expensive, so any commitment to it must be sincere. From shooting on location to taking out insurance to paying actors, crew members, directors and writers, it is impossible to dive in without allocating plenty of cash, while also being patient enough to weather blows at a time when it is increasingly difficult to land a signature hit.
The moves also come amid a fierce arms race for content. Netflix recently poached Shonda Rhimes from ABC, whose parent company, Disney, is preparing its own stand-alone streaming services.
But Apple’s wealth and its willingness to commit resources have sent shock waves through the industry. Two months ago, the company chose Sony’s television studio heads, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, to lead its programming efforts.
Erlicht and Van Amburg were certainly regarded in Hollywood as talented studio executives, having shepherded hit series like “The Crown,” “The Goldbergs” and “Breaking Bad.” But their move to Apple, and their programming budget of a little more than $1 billion, has suddenly made them among the most powerful executives in television.
That budget also puts them on a par with the most elite programmers in television. FX, which makes shows like “American Horror Story” and “Fargo,” has a programming budget of around $1 billion. HBO’s budget is believed to be around $3 billion, and Netflix will spend about $6 billion on content this year.
FX’s chief executive, John Landgraf, has been outspoken about his uneasiness with the amount of money now pouring into the industry and what it will mean for competitors with smaller budgets.
“It’s like getting shot in the face with money every day,” he said at a news media event this month. “And I have no idea how much capital Apple is going to deploy, how many shows they’re going to buy.” Erlicht and Van Amburg started at Apple a few weeks ago.