AMC seeks a new hit with Killing Eve
Second season of dark thriller will air on two channels in April
The stylish, darkly comic espionage thriller “Killing Eve” was an entry on many TV critics’ 10-best lists in 2018 and brought a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy nomination to its star, Sandra Oh.
But can it be a TV drama gamechanger on the scale of “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men” or even the megahit zombie apocalypse drama “The Walking Dead”?
AMC Networks will find out April 7 when it begins airing the second season of “Killing Eve” across two of its channels: BBC America and the more widely viewed flagship, AMC.
“It’s a great opportunity to expose more people to “Killing Eve,” AMC Networks COO Ed Carroll said in a recent interview at the company’s New York office. “These times demand trying some nonconventional methods. And if you have a platform as big and broad as AMC, then it seems like a good thing to try.”
The unusual attempt to elevate “Killing Eve” from a niche network favourite to a mass audience hit comes at critical time for AMC and other cable networks that are having to work harder than ever to get viewers’ attention amid a tsunami of programming choices.
While launching a hit the magnitude of “The Walking Dead” may no longer be possible in today’s more fragmented TV market, AMC believes “Killing Eve” has the potential to become a more potent asset.
The first-season success of “Killing Eve” (which aired on Bravo in Canada) has already been a boost to Sarah Barnett, who developed the series at BBC America. Following the departure of longtime AMC network and studio chief Charlie Collier, Barnett was elevated in a corporate restructuring that made her president of entertainment networks with oversight of AMC, IFC, SundanceTV and BBCA.
AMC’s channels and nearly all other ad-supported cable networks have been rattled by the deep pockets of Netflix and other streaming video services that have siphoned viewers away from traditional TV and intensified the competition for programming and big-name talent. The battle for the next generation of hit shows will only accelerate as tech giant Apple enters the arena and media conglomerates such as the Walt Disney Co. and WarnerMedia launch direct-to-consumer streaming video services this year.
AMC built its reputation on being the smaller, scrappier player able to make pop culture noise with subversive shows that garner critical adulation.
Its in-house production unit AMC Studios, which generated “The Walking Dead,” now provides more than 70 per cent of the programs airing on AMC channels in the U.S. and overseas. New York-based AMC Networks has moved into the direct-to-consumer streaming video business with services that include Sundance Now, for film connoisseurs; the Urban Movie Network, catering to African American viewers; and Shudder for horror film fans. Collectively, they have more than two million paying subscribers.
Still, some troubling industry trends for AMC Networks are popping up like a hungry zombie in the rearview mirror.
AMC’s 2018 prime-time average of 947,000 viewers dropped 12 per cent from the previous year according to Nielsen — flattening out the company’s advertising revenue growth. And though “The Walking Dead” remains the top-rated drama on cable, its popularity has steadily waned as the series ages.