Netflix Signs Up To UK TV Ratings Agency BARB

EXCLUSIVE: South African screenwriter Sabelo ‘Subz’ Mgidi has signed with Alta Global Media for management. 

Rodolphe Belmer, the former Canal+ CEO on the verge of heading up French network TF1, has stepped down from the Netflix Board.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Just over three years ago, Netflix unequivocally shot down the idea that it would ever roll out an ad-supported streaming service. “When you read speculation that we are moving into selling advertising, be confident that this is false,” the streamer said in its second-quarter 2019 investor letter. “We believe we will have a more valuable business in the long term by staying out of competing for ad revenue and instead entirely focusing on competing for viewer satisfaction.” Clearly, Netflix’s thinking about advertising has changed. Both Netflix and Disney+ are launching ad-based tiers this fall, seeking to broaden their addressable markets and tap into a new revenue stream as subscriber growth has slowed — in Netflix’s case, it lost 1.2 million in the first half of 2022, compared with a net gain of 5.5 million in the prior-year period.

Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos tossed cold water on hopes that the streamer’s recent deal with major cinema chains for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery could be the start of something bigger.

Ryan Murphy continues to rack up the numbers on Netflix.

Netflix may not be in the live sports business but it certainly wants viewers to know that it’s got some content around the edges.

called the show a “barrel load of nonsense” and railed that its depictions of his time in office were “damaging and malicious fiction.”The former prime minister’s comments came after the show was accused of fabricating a smear against King Charles, showing him lobbying Major for a secret plot to oust the Queen.Major’s office told The Mail on Sunday that the meeting never took place.“Sir John has not co-operated in any way with The Crown. Nor has he ever been approached by them to fact-check any script material in this or any other series,” read a statement from his office.“As you will know, discussions between the monarch and prime minister are entirely private and – for Sir John – will always remain so.

The mammoth cast of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, sidestepped spoilers and jumped over plot lines as they presented their film Sunday morning at a London Film Festival press conference.

EXCLUSIVE: Bad Wolf has made its first signature hire since the Sony acquisition, signing up His Dark Materials EP Dan McCulloch in the newly-created role of Director of Content.

Netflix’s ad-supported tier will be missing certain series and movie titles at launch, the company conceded today in announcing details about the rollout.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Netflix has signed up to U.K. ratings body BARB in what is a massive coup for TV audience measurement in Britain. BARB, an acronym for the Broadcasters Audience Research Board, claims to be the first industry-owned audience currency in the world that Netflix has joined. While BARB has technically been reporting on streaming numbers in the U.K. for a year now — numbers that have only been available to its broadcaster clients and prohibited from being published — it’s been doing so without the involvement of Netflix and Amazon as clients. (Disney+ is already signed up.) This is all going to change, however, with Netflix now willingly signing up to the ratings body. This means that, from Nov. 1, BARB will report Netflix viewing — in addition to streamers such as Disney+ — every day at both a service and a program level. This will be in the same way it reports viewing for more than 300 broadcast channels, broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) platforms and advertising and subscription video-on-demand (AVOD/SVOD) services.

Matt Brodlie and Jonathan Kier’s Upgrade Productions has signed up Mediawan and Leonine Studios co-pro exec Caroline Kusser to head up series.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that The Discovery filmmaker Charlie McDowell has inked with CAA and Black Bear Management. McDowell will be managed by Black Bear in tandem with LBI.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Laura Prepon has signed with Mainstay Entertainment for representation in all areas, Variety has learned exclusively. Prepon continues to be represented by Myman Greenspan as well as Max Ulanoff at UTA for branding. “Laura’s multifaceted and unique creative voice as an actor, director, writer, and entrepreneur makes her a perfect fit for our company and our approach to management,” said Mainstay CEO Norman Aladjem. Prepon is best known for her starring role in the hit Fox sitcom “That 70’s Show,” on which she played Donna Pinciotti throughout the show’s eight-season run. She will reprise the role in the Netflix followup “That 90’s Show,” which is currently awaiting release. She is also known for playing Alex Vause in the groundbreaking Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” which ran for seven seasons at the streamer. In addition to starring, Prepon directed multiple episodes of the show.

EXCLUSIVE: Lana Parrilla has inked with APA and boarded the Netflix Jennifer Lopez AI drama Atlas directed by Brad Peyton.