Netflix Driving up Hollywood Pay

TWIN: Known for spending heavily for original programming ($8 billion this year alone), Netflix is further disrupting traditional media by poaching top executives and driving up pay. The SVOD pioneer has lured dozens of top execs with hefty compensation increases – in some cases doubling their pay – including stock options and other benefits. 

MCN Take: According to Bloomberg, Netflix is most aggressive in marketing and promotions, and is attracting publicists with packages worth as much as $400,000, or about double their prior compensation. 

Read the full story at Bloomberg.

Netflix Grabs Live-Action Feature Film Rights to Carmen Sandiego 

TWIN: Netflix attached Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez to star as the title character in the live-action Carmen Sandiego film. No writer or director has been named yet for the picture.

MCN Take: This is an extension of the brand for Netflix – it announced an animated version of the beloved PBS series would debut in 2019, with Rodriguez voicing the globe-hopping title character. A line of books from rights owner Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will come out in 2019, timed to the animated series release. 

Read the full story at Deadline.com.

Former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice Named to Netflix Board 

TWIN:Rice was the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as a cabinet member from 2009 to 2013, then until 2017 directed the National Security Council staff, chaired the Cabinet-level National Security Principals committee, provided the daily national security briefing to President Barack Obama. 

[embed]https://twitter.com/Mongotrucker/status/979031321384136704[/embed]

MCN Take: The appointment was not without controversy. Conservatives, who have blamed rice for an alleged cover-up of the Benghazi, Libya terrorist attack, took to Twitter to express their outrage at the appointment. Rice is currently a Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at American University’s School of International Service, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Contributing Opinion Writer for The New York Times. 

Read the full story at Business Insider.

Netflix Series Angers Former Brazilian President 

TWIN: Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has accused Netflix of political bias and character assassination for The Mechanism, a series based on the Car Wash money laundering scandal that rocked Brazilian politics and led to Rousseff’s impeachment in 2016. 

MCN Take: Rousseff has criticized the series which she says distorts reality and takes aim at her Workers’ Party and its founder former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been convicted of corruption for receiving a luxury seaside apartment as a bribe. 

Read the full story at Reuters.

Brits to Lose Netflix Portability After Brexit

TWIN: U.K. citizens won’t be able to take their digital subscriptions – like Netflix and BBC iPlayer – with them in the European Union after Brexit on March 29, 2019, according to the European Commission. 

MCN Take: Portability rules were designed to allow travelers in the European Union to access their online content when they are away from home. Although U.K users currently can’t access the BBC iPlayer currently when they are in the 27 countries in the European Union, Netflix subscribers could access local content. 

Read the full story at Politico.

Despite Stock Slide, ‘Chinese Netflix’ Bags $2B in IPO

TWIN: IQiyi, what many have called the Chinese Netflix, has an auspicious debut on the NASDAQ Exchange, opening at $18 per share, the mid-point of its expected $17-$19 per share range, but closing at $15.55, down 14%. 

MCN Take: IQiyi had about 60.1 million subscribers in China as of Feb. 28 – compared to Netflix’s 53 million paying subs in the U.S. and 58 million internationally. But coupled with President Trump’s recent moves to impose tariffs against Chinese trade and market skittishness, the shares faltered. Still, it was the biggest IPO of a Chinese company since Alibaba in 2014. 

Read the full story at MarketWatch.

Netflix Pulls Plug on Kids Binge-watching Game

TWIN: Netflix said it has abandoned a test that rewarded kids for watching more shows, after the practice attracted a huge Twitter backlash. The SVOD pioneer had “gamified” binge watching for kids, who could earn patches the more children’s shows they watched.

.@netflix has patches /badges now? What’s the deal with this?? As if getting my son to stop watching Netflix wasn’t hard enough. Now I have to deal with him wanting to binge endless hours of shows just to earn a silly patch? Not good. My opinion I know, but still I don’t like it!

— Ed Munoz (@LivingDadly) February 24, 2018

MCN Take: Netflix has been a pioneer in massaging user data to recommend additional programming options, but many saw turning binge-watching into a game for kids as crossing the line. After weathering the ire of parents and parental groups, the company said it had “decided not to move forward with the test.”

Read the full story at Variety

Heaviest Is the Purse That Wears 'The Crown'

TWIN: After taking some serious heat from critics after it admitted it paid The Crown star Claire Foy considerably less than her co-star, Matt Smith, Netflix said that it will correct the discrepancy in future seasons. Foy played a young Queen Elizabeth II to Smith’s Prince Philip, and has ended a much-acclaimed two-season run on the show. Netflix had argued that Smith – who played Dr. Who from 2010-2014 – was the bigger star at the time of their signing. He too is ending his run on the show as The Crown transitions to the Prince Charles-Princess Diana-Camilla Parker Bowles years of the monarchy.

MCN Take: Veteran British actress Olivia Coleman is set to take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II in seasons three and four, and Netflix has said “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen.” Foy, who could still sue the SVOD pioneer, has landed some choice roles in the meantime – she’s playing Lisbeth Salander in the upcoming movie The Girl in the Spiders Web.

Read the full story at Forbes

Netflix Is Developing '60-Minutes-type' News Show

TWIN: Just months after dipping its toes in the monthly talk show format with David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Netflix is reportedly developing a "60 Minutes-type" news magazine program for weekly consumption, according to MarketWatch. Citing executives familiar with the matter, the website said the project is in its early stages and could include comedic takes on the news.

https://t.co/XKScp0SVqB via @NiemanLab@CJR@dallasnewspic.twitter.com/oNrMlLXOpj

— FairParkRising (@FairParkRising) March 14, 2018

MCN Take: Netflix is apparently emboldened by the success of Letterman’s show – it first featured formed President Barack Obama followed by actor George Clooney – has landed other talk show deals with Joel McHale, Norm MacDonald, Hassan Minhaj and Michelle Wolf and has signed Obama to a development deal to come up with new shows. It’s mostly older people who watch TV news. Can Netflix and Facebook change that in the 60 Minutes mode?

Read the full story at MarketWatch

Netflix in Space

TWIN: To commemorate the company’s own Hack Day, Netflix engineers jettisoned an iPhone equipped with a downloaded episode of Star Trek: Discovery into space, because they are Netflix and they can. The iPhone, attached to a balloon and also equipped with a GoPro camera, reached a height of 115,000 feet.

MCN Take: To quote Mr. Spock, Netflix’s choice of programming was a bit “illogical” – Star Trek: Discovery isn’t available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. (it’s on CBS All Access). Other hacks from the day included a virtual 3D representation of Bay City from Netflix sci-fi anthology series Altered Carbon that functioned as a workable Netflix homepage.

Get the full story at Engadget

Netflix Not in Apple’s M&A Eye

TWIN: Apple senior VP of software and service Eddy Cue said at the South by Southwest Festival that the computer giant was not in the business of making big acquisitions and was unlikely to buy Disney or Netflix. Cue told the audience that Disney and Netflix are great partners, and that is enough, quoting hockey legend Wayne Gretzky:“Skate to where the puck is going, not where it is.”

MCN Take: While Apple’s track record in TV has been spotty, Cue praised its progress, adding it has taken two years to get the right people to spearhead its efforts. But there is no need to own huge franchises, he said, adding that Apple will focus on long-form TV and movie content. “We are not after quantity, but quality,” he said.

Read the full story at CNBC

Norm Has a Show on Netflix

TWIN: Funnyman Norm MacDonald caused a bit of controversy a few weeks ago after initially letting the cat out of the bag about his upcoming Netflix show during a Reddit Q&A, but then quickly retracting the comment. Still, fans aware of MacDonald’s mischievous nature, continued to hope that the show was a go. 

I have a new show on @netflix and I'm tweeting the text exchange that started it all. pic.twitter.com/xNA48bZlVl

— Norm Macdonald (@normmacdonald) March 9, 2018

MCN Take: MacDonald’s Netflix show, appropriately titled Norm MacDonald Has a Show on Netflix, will be in the talk format and feature his long-time sidekick Adam Eget and one celebrity guest per episode.

Read the full story at B&C.

Positive Brand Association Powers Netflix Content

TWIN: Sanford Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger took another deep dive into Netflix’s success, focusing on two recent programming wins – Will Smith sci-fi movie Bright and German-language supernatural thriller Dark. While Bright was panned by critics, Juenger noted Netflix subscribers' positive views toward the overall brand helped drive viewership to more than 13 million in the first week.

MCN Take: Juenger was even more impressed with Dark, a German-language thriller that was supposed to be an attempt to attract local market audiences in Germany. Instead, the show drew more than 90% of its viewers outside Germany.

Read the full story at Multichannel News.

Obama in Talks to Produce Shows for Netflix

TWIN: Former President Barack Obama is in discussions with Netflix to produce a series of high-profile shows. Netflix would pay the former President and his wife Michelle for exclusive content available only on the streaming service.

MCN Take: While the deal isn’t finalized and the type of shows he would produce aren’t fully fleshed out, the former President could moderate discussions that have been near his heart during his time in office -- health care, voting rights, immigration, foreign policy and climate change. One topic not on the agenda will be current POTUS Donald Trump.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

Netflix DVDs Could Stay Another Five Years

TWIN: In an interview with USA Today, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings touched on a number of topics, including the tiny red DVD envelopes that helped drive the company’s early business. Hastings said DVD rentals are still a part of the business – kept mainly for rural subs and movie buffs – and he is in no rush to get rid of it, adding they could be around for another five years.

MCN Take: Hastings also told the paper that revenue is expected to hit $15 billion in 2018, up from $11 billion in 2017, and said despite its hits, he worries about spending too much money. “We always worry about overpaying,” he told the paper. “It’s a big step for us, a big, concentrated commitment. It has good odds for success. We’re trying to make many bets. Some of our content won’t work, but we’re willing to try.”

Read the full story at USA Today.

CBS All Access to Step up Originals to Compete with Netflix

TWIN: CBS chief operating officer Joe Ianniello (pictured below) told an industry audience that its streaming service CBS All Access will add more shows to compete with Netflix and other providers. "We're doubling down there. You're going to see six to seven originals on CBS All Access in the next 12 months," Ianniello said at the Deutsche Bank Media Telecom & Business Services conference in Palm Beach, Fla.

MCN Take: CBS All access would build on its Star Trek: Discovery series, The Good Fight and an upcoming Twilight Zone reboot from Jordan Peele. Other upcoming originals include the Kevin Williamson fairy-tale anthology Tell Me a Story,Strange Angel, and the comedy No Activity. "Wherever Netflix is, I don't see why we won't be there," Ianniello said.

Read the full story at The Hollywood Reporter.

Netflix Stock Reaches New All-Time High

TWIN: Netflix shares were up nearly 4% on Friday (March 2), closing at $301.05 per share, a new all-time high for the stock, beating the old mark of $297.36 as the company continued to ride a wave of investor optimism over the SVOD space. With Friday’s close, Netflix’s market cap reached $130 billion, putting the company within spitting distance of other major media companies like Comcast-NBCUniversal ($169 billion) and The Walt Disney Co. ($155 billion).

A few years ago I read an article that asked if @netflix had "the worst board in history". Seems like the answer is no, they do not. #startups#businesstipshttps://t.co/l1RgiQl6om

— Dan Schepleng (@DanSchepleng) March 2, 2018

MCN Take: Netflix shares are up more than 50% since the beginning of the year. And the rise comes just days after Comcast lobbed an unsolicited bid at U.K. satellite giant Sky, a move some see as insurance against growing virtual MVPD and SVOD competitors.

Read the full story at Variety

Netflix Forcing Media Competitors to Think Globally

TWIN: Former DirecTV chief Mike White told CNBC that he believes U.S. media companies need to watch what Netflix is doing internationally closely. He warned that if the company gets to 200 million international customers – it’s at about 67.7 million now – it will be able to write much bigger checks to content creators.

MCN Take: Netflix already plans to spend about $8 billion on content this year and at an industry conference, CFO David Wells said it will have around 700 original TV shows, movies and specials this year. About 80 of those programs will be internationally focused.

Read the full story at CNBC

Netflix is testing a navigation bar on Android

TWIN: According to Engadget, Netflix is beta testing a new navigation bar for Android phones, replacing the slide-out menu with something more elegant and accessible.

Netflix moves to a bottom nav bar on Android (& iOS).

Why? Obvious always wins: https://t.co/coJ7Ge55Itpic.twitter.com/iEtnPEeETE

— Luke Wroblewski (@lukew) February 26, 2018

MCN Take: The new navigation bar will make it easier for users to access their offline downloads and see what content is coming soon.

Read the full story at Engadget

Hastings: Netflix’s Next 100M Subs Will Come From India

TWIN: While it has more than 117 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix founder chairman and CEO Reed Hastings told an audience at the Economic Times Global Business Summit in New Delhi that its next 100 million customers will come from India. That would be a big boost, given that Netflix has about 500,000 customers currently in the sub-continent.

MCN Take: Hastings said India has all the components for streaming video growth, a strong, affordable high-speed internet infrastructure and a consumer base that is passionate for film and other video content.

Read the full story at the Hollywood Reporter

Black Panther Coming to Netflix This Fall

TWIN: Crossing the $700 million worldwide box office milestone in just its second week in theaters, Black Panther is expected to come to Netflix in September or October, but it will be the last Marvel movie for the streaming service as part of its expired deal with Disney. Black Panther debuted in theaters on Feb. 16 and Disney’s Netflix deal – which the company declined to renew in August and will take effect in 2019 – usually calls for movies to hit the streaming service about seven or eight months after theatrical release.

MCN Take: The blockbuster won’t make its debut on Disney’s planned streaming entertainment service, which will launch in 2019. But the streaming product is expected to be chock full of Star Wars films – including the original Episode Three, which comes as part of its 21st Century Fox deal and a new Star Wars series from Game of Thrones screenwriters David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Read the full story at The Independent

Strong Subscriber Growth Powers Netflix Q4

TWIN: Despite a sizeable price increase in the fourth quarter, domestic and international subscriber growth in the period outpaced analysts' expectations, with domestic customers up 1.98 million (vs. consensus estimates of 1.25 million) and international subscriber rolls up by 6.4 million (vs. expectations of 5 million).

MCN Take: Netflix's growth was in sharp contrast to traditional pay TV operators, like Verizon and Comcast, which saw their video customers dip in the fourth quarter.

See the full story atMCN.

Blige Receives Oscar Nom for Mudbound

TWIN: Netflix was clotheslined in its attempt to get a best picture nomination for its theatrical motion picture Mudbound, but it did manage to secure a nod for "Best Supporting Actress" for Mary J. Blige and three other nominations – Best Song (Mighty River); Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography. Two of its documentaries – Icarus and Strong Island – are vying for Best Documentary Feature. 

MCN Take: Blige has been widely praised for her performance in the movie, but Netflix has seen the Academy snub its theatrical releases in the past – the governing body has suggested that despite brief runs in theatres, the streaming video offerings are more suited for the Emmy Awards.

"It’s a glorious day for breaking boundaries." #Mudbound made history this year in each of its Academy Awards nominations. pic.twitter.com/NojSzCnlv9

— Mudbound (@mudboundmovie) January 29, 2018

See the full story at NPR.

Netflix Market Value Tops $100B

TWIN: Riding high after strong Q4 earnings, Netflix stock surged Tuesday, Jan. 23 to $257.71 per share, up 13.2% ($30.13 each) and blowing past $100 billion in market cap for the first time. The stock has continued to climb since breaking the $100 billion barrier – it closed at $274.60 on Jan. 26.

MCN Take: A healthy market cap usually points to good news for debt holders – a company's equity value usually has to evaporate entirely before its debt is affected – and having a $100 billion safety net doesn't hurt. That wasn't lost on Netflix execs, who plan to continue to tap the high-yield markets to fund growth, adding in their letter to shareholders, "High yield has rarely seen an equity cushion so thick." 

See the full story at WSJ.

Altice Integrates Netflix App in Altice One Set-Tops

TWIN: Altice One was launched in November and is modeled after the La Box product its European parent has offered in France. Altice USA and its predecessor Cablevision Systems has been a pioneer in offering set-top connectivity to SVOD services like Netflix and Hulu.

MCN Take: Altice One seems to be taking the guesswork out of a Netflix subscription– current customers of both services will be prompted to sign in when accessing Netflix on the platform for the first time. Altice One customers without a Netflix membership will be able to sign up for Netflix service directly through Altice One and the operator also is preparing to introduce a remote that features a Netflix button. 

See the full story at MCN.

Analyst Says Netflix Peak Still Years Away

TWIN: MKM Partners analyst Rob Sanderson raised his 12-month price target on Netflix to $320 from $245 on Monday, adding that the SVOD pioneer still has a long runway of growth ahead.

"While there is certainly a bullish sentiment surrounding the stock, we think that many investors still underestimate the Netflix story particularly with respect to the penetration opportunity around the world," Sanderson wrote. "We think that continued subscriber momentum, both domestic and international will lead to a rethinking of earnings power."

MCN Take: Netflix shares are up nearly 93% in the past 12 months, compared to 25% for the S&P 500 and 32% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Netflix beat analysts' Q4 consensus subscriber growth estimates handily, suggesting that recent price increases are having little or no effect.

See the full story at Market Watch.