News from our Associate Members; AMC Networks International
Dan McDermott has seen the future of streaming, and it looks nothing like Netflix — or Hulu, or even Peacock. As the recently promoted president of entertainment at AMC Networks, McDermott is responsible for the programming that goes on an array of AMC cable networks and, more importantly, the company’s fast-growing AMC+ streaming service. AMC Networks has big ambitions for its signature streamer, but its goals do not include finding a way to scale up anywhere near the level of those supersize platforms. “We’re not all things to all people,” McDermott says. “We don’t believe we have to be like the other big streaming services.”
Of course, given AMC Networks’ position as an independent player not attached to a massive conglomerate or tech giant, it isn’t particularly shocking to see the company taking a more targeted approach. Barring a merger with a bigger player or some unexpected cash windfall, it would be nearly impossible for it to find the billions needed to program and market a something-for-everyone streamer. And yet AMC Networks does think it can get dramatically bigger in streaming, and quickly. The company, which currently has about 9 million monthly digital subscribers spread among AMC+ and a collection of even more specialized sibling services, has said it is aiming to grow that number to between 20 million and 25 million within the next four years. That would be on par with the 25 million subscribers Hulu had at the start of 2019, a few months before Disney took operational control of the streamer.
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