Netflix’s 15-minute comedy specials announcement puts its closer to becoming a stand-up monopoly

The Ringer

“In the short term,” says Alison Herman, “this is good news for comedians who might not otherwise get access to the company’s massive, built-in exposure until later in their careers. (There’s no better, or freer, marketing than having your face pop up on that homepage.) In the longer term, however, the 15-minute special further solidifies Netflix’s bargaining power — power it can then employ in favor of interests that have frequently aligned with those of entertainers, but not always. Just this week, Netflix came under fire for reportedly lowballing black female comics Mo’Nique and Wanda Sykes; Sykes has since taken her special elsewhere, to Epix, but the more Netflix supplants the competition, the harder it becomes for talent to say no to the terms the company is increasingly able to dictate.”

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