Will You's massive Netflix popularity mark a major turning point for TV?

The Washington Post

You becoming a smash hit on Netflix after barely generating buzz on Lifetime "is perhaps the most stark example yet of the iron grip Netflix has on younger viewers, and a fascinating case study for where the increasingly fractured future of TV is headed," says Emily Yahr. She adds: "For one thing, it shows basic cable channels that rely on scripted content are in for a uniquely tough road ahead. They don’t offer easy binge-watching like streaming services; they don’t have news or sports like broadcast networks; they can’t be R-rated like premium channels; and they don’t have the budget to cast, say, Julia Roberts (Amazon Prime’s Homecoming) or Emma Stone (Netflix’s Maniac). Plus, as former network executive Tom Nunan said, even if they could afford a major movie star, who knows whether their audience would watch?" Variety TV critic Daniel D'Addario perhaps put it best when he tweeted earlier this week: "The more I think about it, the more I think You flailing on Lifetime and being treated by the viewing public as a Netflix original is going to be remembered as a major turning point in what will shortly be a contraction of the TV industry." Penn Badgley, in an email to The Washington Post, says he wasn't stunned by differing reactions: "We’re grateful to Lifetime for being the gateway to getting the show made. We wouldn’t have been able to make the show without them, as far as I can tell,” Badgley said. “There is no sense of bewilderment that the show had one reaction while it was on Lifetime and another when it went to Netflix. The difference in viewership is obvious, and it’s indicative of so many different things, not the least of which is the way young people consume media.”

ALSO:

• Netflix removes the "shame-stink" of shows from female-oriented channels like CW, Lifetime and Freeform: "One thing Netflix clearly does is remove the shame-stink that still frustratingly afflicts channels targeted at moms, girlie-o’s and teens," tweets Emily Nussbaum. "(Girlie-o’s being a demographic category I just invented for all young or young-ish people who like funny arch warm neon things.) There have been a bunch of good & ambitious & entertaining shows on Lifetime, the CW, Freeform, ETC. but it’s way easier to get an audience to watch them en masse when they appear to be screening in a psychic multiplex."