It seems like everything that legendary TV producer Shonda Rhimes touches turns to immediate ratings gold. She first gained prominence as the creator, writer, showrunner and executive producer of the (still hugely successful) ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘, and her production company Shondaland is responsible for multiple other hits like ‘Scandal‘ and ‘How to Get Away with Murder‘. She is a boss, and arguably the most powerful TV producer in all of the land.
That’s why this new development in her career is such a HUGE move, and a massive Netflix power play that is extremely interesting in the context of old school free-to-air TV versus streaming services. Netflix has offered Rhimes massive stacks of cash in order to lure her from ABC Studios, where she has been for 15 years, in order to sign her up to a multi-year deal to produce shows for them instead.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Rhimes earned ABC somewhere in the range of a couple of billion dollars in revenue over the course of their partnership, so it is no surprise that Netflix have gone after her with everything, reportedly offering her almost $13 million a year.
Get. It. Shonda.
Rhimes will reportedly continue to be involved with her shows that are still on air, but Shondaland will move to Netflix to function as part of its in-house studio to develop new shows.
The move will also probably inflame tensions between Netflix and Disney (the owners of ABC), who announced last week that they are launching their own streaming service, and removing Disney films from Netflix. Oooh, messy.
Just like the very best parts of the shows Shonda makes, this situation is filled with DRAMMMMAAAAA, and we are living for it.
