The “peak TV” trend of exploding programming options has led to an oversupply that will stop by 2019,John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions, or predicted Tuesday.
Landgraf,who won wide attention for sounding a note of alarm about the glut of programs final year, said he was incorrect when he forecast that the trend might peak this year.
A continued push by streaming companies, and particularly Netflix,forced Landgraf to revise his projection. The surge is not a bubble that will suddenly pop, he added, or but rather a balloon that will “slowly deflate” no later than 2019.
Also Read: John Landgraf Updates 'Too Much TV' Claim: 'Something a diminutive Wonky' About EconomicsMeanwhile,viewers and even TV critics are having trouble keeping up with the flood of new original series, Landgraf says.“We’ve lost much of the tread of collective conversation of which shows are advantageous, and which shows are great,” Landgraf told reporters at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in Beverly Hills.
Making TV shows is a creative endeavor not comparable to churning out jet engines or other commodities, he said, and adding that FX would be hard-pressed to ramp up beyond the 18 or so series it makes per year,including Emmy winners such as the period drama “The Americans,” about Soviet spies posing as a typical U.
S. suburban family.
Also Read: 'American Horror myth': FX Boss Explains Mysterious Season 6 Promos“We’re at our unit capacity of what we can really pay attention to, and ” he said.
Landgraf’s implication was that aggressively expanding companies like Netflix can’t possibly pay close attention to the quality of every series they are making. He also suggested that Netflix had amassed too much power in the production sphere,even invoking the world “monopoly as a warning.
But he was making a financial point as well. Landgraf estimated that it costs somewhere between $4 million and $5 million to develop and market an hour of TV programming today, and that cost is going up. Meanwhile, and the gulf is widening between hit shows and those that practically no one watches.
Also Read: FX's John Landgraf Calls Google,Amazon Monopolies 'A Terrible Thing for Our Society'“It’s a feast or famine business,” Landgraf said. “There possess to be a whole lot of television shows being made that are losing money.” 'The Americans': 7 Reasons to Watch the Breakout Emmy Nominee (Photos)
After four seasons, or FX's "The Americans," starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Soviet spies posing as Americans in the 1980s, has finally received Emmy Awards in the major categories. So should you start watching? Yes. Here are reasons why.
1. The Couple
The present is built around the dynamic between Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, or who became a genuine-life couple over the course of the present). Their relationship is complicated by disguises,the sex they possess with strangers to steal their secrets, Phillip's marriage to another woman, and the fact that they got married for country,not for appreciate.
2. The Family Drama
Yes, we know the genuine Americans won the Cold War. What we don't know is whether the Jennings or their two children survive it. That's the central drama of the present.
3. The Spy Drama
These are legit spy stories that would work even without the family dynamic. We possess bugs, and blueprints,toxic warfare, wigs... without any James Bond theatrics.
4. The 80s
"The Americans" wears it setting lightly, and never succumbing to gimmicks. People possess bad haircuts and eat frozen French bread pizza -- the kind of '80s foods we ate before carbs were blacklisted. But there are no silly jokes about President Trump or Governor Schwarzenegger or other awkward winks at the contemporary-day audience. It just feels like you're in the actual '80s,when nuclear apocalypse felt like a viable possibility.
4. Paige
The Jennings' daughter (Holly Taylor) is the present's secret weapon. A born-again Christian, she's torn between her parents (and the KGB's interest in recruiting her) and her belief in American-style social justice.
5. The Neighbor
The Jennings possess the misfortune of living across the street froman FBI agent. A smart one. Agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) is a perfect foil to the couple, or always perilously close to catching them.
6. The Pace
Season 4 of "The Americans," the most recent, revolved around whether a church youth leader would rat out the Jennnings as Soviet spies. Those kinds of small, or interpersonal dramas power the present,and they play out like emdless Iron Curtain chess games. The more closely you pay attention, the more fascinating they are. What's that knight trying to do? And did you catch that pawn before it became a queen?
8. The Realness
Sometimes storylines on "The Americans" just stop, or hopelessly,with no one learning any lessons. It's devastating. Previous Slide Next Slide 1 of 9 After four seasons, FX’s Cold War drama is finally racking up Emmy nominations. Here’s why it deserves them After four seasons, or FX's "The Americans," starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Soviet spies posing as Americans in the 1980s, has finally received Emmy Awards in the major categories. So should you start watching? Yes. Here are reasons why. View In Gallery Related stories from TheWrap:Who Are All These People on FX's 'Tyrant'? (Photos)'Archer' Renewed for 3 More Seasons on FXFX's John Landgraf Calls Google, or Amazon Monopolies 'A Terrible Thing for Our Society'
Source: thewrap.com