FX at TCA: Landgraf Nails Netflix; "Fosse/Verdon" Dazzles

Super Bowl Sunday happened to be the day before FXamp8217s formal presentationsamp160 Even though the Bowl was on CBS FX under the auspices of the very smart publicity executive John Solberg amp8211 took over one of the Langham Huntingtonamp8217s massive ballrooms installed a highdefinition screen roughly the size of the hotelamp8217s average guest room and tossed a casual viewing party with hot dogs burgers beer and moreamp160 When that ended everyone stayed where they were on one of the comfortable couches or chairs that were positioned around the room for the big game to view the first episode of the networkamp8217s upcoming limited series FosseVerdon a cinematic gem not unlike FXamp8217s previous limited series Feud The People v OJ Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni Versace featuring mesmerizing performances by Sam Rockwell as Bob Fosse and Michelle Williams as Gwen Verdonamp160 Executive producer and director Thomas Kail who directed a little Broadway show called Hamilton and executive producer and writer Steven Levensen who wrote Dear Evan Hansen were on hand to introduce the screening and provide backgroundamp160 So was creative consultant Nicole Fosse daughter of Fosse and VerdonAfter FosseVerdon was finished FX screened the first two episodes of its macabre new horror comedy What We Do in the Shadows a show unlike any that has ever been on American television and an uproarious one at that amp160Set to debut in March though seemingly more suited for the fall Shadows was goofy good funTogether FXamp8217s efforts on Sunday afternoon and evening both to reinforce its publicity teamamp8217s connection to the press something most networks no longer nurture and establish FosseVerdon and Shadows as new series to watch represented a greater andor more effective presence at TCA so far than virtually any other networkamp160 As more than one critic said that day amp8220FX gets itamp8221The following day was FXamp8217s official day here and the press was prepped for panels with the casts and creators of both programs that filled the morning amp8211 after the eagerly awaited press conference with John Landgraf the CEO of FX Networks and FX Productionsamp160 His appearances are often the highlights of the summer and winter toursHe didnamp8217t have very much to say about the impending Disney takeover of FX Networks along with other assets of 20th Century Foxamp160 Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger amp8220has stated publicly that the acquisition of FX will not change the FX brandamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220He has also indicated that he would like FX as well as many other creative brands at Disney to increase our output in support of their streaming strategy Our industry has undergone rapid and seismic shifts and every media company must evolve and grow to compete with the rising monopolistic tightness of Silicon Valley and what I have labeled their endless money cannonsamp8221 amp160That was the beginning of the consistent shade Landgraf threw at Silicon Valley though it was Netflix about which he had the most to sayLast year he said Netflix offered what he called amp8220an insaneamp8221 530 original programsamp160 He would later say amp8220I donamp8217t know who needs 530 original television programs in a year but Iamp8217ll leave that to others to judgeamp8221But the real fire was directed toward the streameramp8217s recent performance claimsamp160 amp8220Netflix has selectively begun to release some viewership numbers for a few of their successful original programsamp8221 he said noting that the amp8220source of those numbersamp8221 is Netflix itselfamp160 amp8220And what do you knowamp8221 he continued as reporters chuckledamp160 amp8220The numbers look really big and promote the notion that many shows on their platform are gigantic hits that are watched more than shows on broadcast premium or basic cableamp8220A few weeks ago Netflix stated and I quote amp8216We are very pleased with our launch of the former Lifetime thriller You amp160We estimate it will be watched by over 40 millionmember households in its first four weeks on Netflixamp8217 amp160Sounds like they have a huge hit on their hands amp160However if you dig a little deeper Netflix is not telling you the whole story because the numbers they issued do not follow the universally understood television metric which is amp8216average audienceamp8217amp8220Anyone who read Netflixamp8217s statement about You would likely assume they were giving an average audience number because that is how scripted television has always been measured amp160They would simply think amp821640 million households are watching You It must be the biggest hit on TVamp8217 amp160Subsequently Netflix clarified this statement by adding that their amp8216watched byamp8217 meant that an individual Netflix account watched at least 70 percent of one of Youamp8216s ten episodesamp8220Using the traditional measurement metric of average audience which is calculated by adding up every minute viewed of an episode or season and dividing it by the total duration of the program the first season of You on Netflix actually averaged in its first four weeks in the US one fifth of what Netflixamp8217s number implies or about 8 million average US viewers per episode amp160An average audience of 8 million viewers is good but itamp8217s not an average audience of 40 million total viewers which would make You the No 1 show on American televisionamp8221Is everything Netflix reports about the performances of its shows an exaggerationamp160 amp8220Stranger Things is absolutely a home run but it is also a huge outlier on the Netflix platform just as Game of Thrones is on HBO and The Walking Dead has been on AMCamp8221 Landgraf assertedamp160 amp8220The flip side of taking hundreds of at bats is youamp8217re also going to get a massive number of strikeouts amp160Naturally Netflix has also made and launched a multitude of consumer failures amp160But by reporting their singles as if they were home runs and failing to ever report a single strikeout they undercut an accurate perception of their batting average and misrepresent the number and scale of their hitsamp160 There are decades of historical data to prove that creative and commercial failure in this business is unavoidable and no one is exempt from that reality amp160When applying our industryamp8217s standard accepted metrics to all their programming the list of shows on their platform that would be considered commercial failures is long and their true batting average would be viewed as unimpressiveamp8221FX rounded out its engaging and enlightening day with panels for the returning comedy Better Things and sciencefiction drama Legion as well as its unscripted docuseries The Weekly featuring New York Times reporters and correspondents on the job developing storiesamp160 The day ended with a cocktail reception with a vampire theme again promoting What We Do in the ShadowsClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160

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FX at TCA: Landgraf Nails Netflix; "Fosse/Verdon" Dazzles

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FX at TCA: Landgraf Nails Netflix; "Fosse/Verdon" Dazzles

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