Netflix To Capture ABC's Female Following With Rhimes Deal

In a move of seeming retaliation after Walt Disney Co DIS announced the removal of its films from streaming sites, Netflix, Inc. NFLX is poaching one of ABC’s most valuable content creators.

Shonda Rhimes, the mastermind behind the Thursday night trifecta of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How To Get Away With Murder,” announced Monday that she would leave ABC after 15 years to create under the Netflix banner.

The Power Of Shondaland

Rhimes’ “TGIT” lineup, even at its roughest, has proven huge for ABC.

“Grey’s Anatomy” is heading into its 14th season, tying for seventh as the longest-running scripted series in U.S. primetime TV. Age hasn’t diminished its appeal, though, as the show ranked No. 10 last season among primetime series in the coveted 18-to-49 viewer category, making it ABC’s highest-rated offering and the nation’s fifth-best non-football series.

Rhimes’ “How To Get Away With Murder” ranked No. 18 and will begin its fourth season this fall. “Scandal”’s upcoming seventh season will be its last.

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What It Means For Netflix

Netflix’s seizure of Rhimes brings a meaningful demographic to the over-the-top streaming service. Although the gender breakdown of “TGIT” viewers is unknown, the lineup of powerful women leads has well appealed to ABC’s core female viewership.

Notably, Netflix has said that it does not consider gender-based demographics when selecting offerings.

“Geography, age and gender? We put that in the garbage heap,” Vice President of Product Innovation Todd Yellin told Wired in 2016. The firm instead groups subscribers by taste.

Considering this fact, it seems management saw something worth capturing in the audience drawn to its present Shondaland portfolio.

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Image Credit: By Peabody Awards (Shonda Rhimes) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons