Netflix is looking like a "parallel TV universe" following the Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes deals

The New York Times

Netflix has been considered everything from an online-video platform to a network to a cable channel. "The Murphy and Rhimes deals suggest something else: It’s an entire parallel TV universe, and it’s still expanding," says James Poniewozik. "Think of Netflix as the Upside Down in its sci-fi series Stranger Things. By this I don’t mean that it’s a nefarious or dangerous force. But it is a kind of alternative TV dimension, overlaying and replicating the known world of traditional television, that tries to acquire one of everything that exists in the universe of TV." Poniewozik says his first instinct was to liken Netflix to cable. But cable channels have brands. They have specialties and sensibilities to cater to a specific audience. "Netflix doesn’t have that; in fact, it is specifically anti-that," he says. "Its brand is 'stuff that you like to watch on TV.' It developed a vast library of reruns, and with that, a proprietary trove of data on who likes to watch what and how much. Then it made more of that, or bought it. If you liked 30 Rock, here’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If you liked Damages, here’s Bloodline."

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