The World According to Netflix

TWIN: Netflix has already conquered the U.S. subscription VOD market, now it is setting its sights on beefing up its international presence.

MCN Take: According to Sanford Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger, Netflix could nearly double its global subscribers to 300 million by 2026, an estimate even he says is conservative.

Read the full story at Broadcasting & Cable.

Netflix Renews '13 Reasons Why' for Third Season, Despite Controversy

TWIN: The third season will commence sometime in 2019, according to Netflix. The controversial series, about a high school girl who commits suicide, has received a torrent of complaints from parents groups since its 2017 debut, claiming it glorifies teen suicide and bullying.

MCN Take: Despite the criticism, the show is one of Netflix’s most popular. The second season, which debuted May 18, drew an average audience of more than 2.6 million viewers, with viewers watching an average of more than four episodes of the 13-episode series during its first weekend, according to Nielsen data.

Read the full story at Multichannel News.

Netflix to Adapt Dolly Parton Songs for Series

TWIN: The country music icon will executive produce an anthology series for which Parton’s songs will supply the plot. Eight Parton songs will be adapted into standalone episodes.

MCN Take: It won’t be the first time a Parton song will be adapted for video – her song "Coat of Many Colors" has been adapted for NBC’s Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors in 2015 and a 2016 follow-up, Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors.

Read the full story at The New York Times.

Rock Tells Obamas to Make Money Elsewhere

TWIN: Comedian Chris Rock commented on the reported 8-figure development deal former President Barack Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle, made with Netflix, telling The Hollywood Reporter that he did not want to “live in a world where President Obama is worried about his Rotten Tomatoes score.”

MCN Take: Rock, who signed his own $40 million deal with the streaming service two years ago, said he wanted the former President and First Lady “above that at all times,” adding he wants the Obamas to make money, just not like that.

Get the full story at The Hollywood Reporter.

Netflix Announces 'Orange Is the New Black' Season 6 Premiere Date

TWIN: The sixth season of the Jenji Kohan-helmed drama will drop on July 27, a little more than a year after its Season 5 debut, which depicted a riot at the minimum security women’s prison after one of its own, Poussey, played by actress Samira Wiley, was killed by a corrections officer. In a cryptic trailer for the new season, a wrecked prison cafeteria is shown, followed by a prison bus under the header "To the Max," suggesting that the women could find themselves in the maximum security section of the facility.

MCN Take: Kohan signed a multi-year deal with Netflix in November – she also is behind female wrestling-themed series Glow, whose second season will air June 29. Orange Is the New Black continues to be one of the most popular series on the streaming service.

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Read more at Deadline.com.

Netflix swept the Screen Actor Awards in the major drama categories with wins for Stranger Things and The Crown.  

The streaming service's freshman fantasy drama series Stranger Things won for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensamble in a Drama Series. Another freshman series, The Crown, took home awards for Outstanding Perfrormance By A Male Actor In A Drama Series (John Lithgow) and Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Drama Series (Claire Foy).

Netflix's Orange Is The New Black also took home top honors in the Outstanding Performance by an Esemble In A Comedy Series.