Netflix wins over Rhimes in blow to Disney, ABC
Netflix has lured Shonda Rhimes, the well-regarded creator of TV series “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” from ABC, its latest big get as media companies old and new fight for viewers’ attention.
The streaming service’s announcement late Sunday comes just days after ABC owner Disney laid out plans to pull programming from Netflix. Netflix said Rhimes’ Shondaland production company is moving to Netflix for a multiyear deal. New ideas and projects from Rhimes and her producing partner, Betsy Beers, will be available on the streaming service. “Starting today, we are thrilled to begin creating new Shondaland stories with Netflix,” Rhimes wrote.
But her existing, wellknown shows — “Grey’s Anatomy,” ‘’Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder” — will remain on the network. Upcoming Shondaland projects already in the works, like the drama “For the People” and a “Grey’s” spinoff, will also still stay with ABC. Rhimes has had exclusive deals with ABC Studios for nearly 15 years. Financial terms of the Netflix deal weren’t disclosed, nor were details on how long Rhimes and her company will produce series for Netflix. Rhimes wrote in a statement that she was grateful to ABC for giving her career a start, but she was looking forward to expanding her audience and “creative identity” with Netflix. Rhimes’ shows are known for their diverse casts, cliffhangers and dramatic twists set in American institutions like universities, hospitals and the White House.
“Shonda Rhimes paved the way for a lot of the transformation that we are seeing in television today,” said UCLA professor Darnell Hunt, who studies diversity in the entertainment industry. Hunt said television executives are beginning to understand that getting more minorities in top roles isn’t just marketable, but “demanded by increasingly diverse audiences.” He said digital platforms like Netflix have lagged traditional TV in diversity — and Rhimes could help change that.