Hollywood breathed a collective sigh of relief when the writers’ strike was settled on 27 September, but it was a symptom, rather than a cure. The disease was called “streaming”, and it remains endemic to the financial model imposed by the Netflix revolution that birthed the era of Peak TV. Streaming promised entertainment for every taste, every minute – whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted it. Revolutions, however, have a habit of consuming their own. It didn’t take long for this one to do the same.
There’s a reason why the twin writers’ and actors’ walkouts were called “the Netflix strikes”. Netflix upended the industry business model, which was structured so creatives shared the “back-end” income generated every time their shows were aired as they worked their way down from theatrical releases or broadcast TV premieres through “long-tail” syndication to ancillary markets. Netflix’s streaming model had no use for these markets, and consequently, creatives received no more than a one-off “front-end” payment. Actors such as Aaron Paul, co-star of Breaking Bad, complained they received nothing when their shows are aired on Netflix.
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