You could say the modern television scene has been a high-stakes chess game for more than ten years, pitting the old guard of cable against the tech-savvy might of streaming. The bond between AMC and Netflix is perhaps the best example of that evolution. It all came to a head in 2011 when the streaming colossus put The Walking Dead on its service, an act that set in motion a kind of symbiosis and made a cable zombie show into something of a worldwide sensation.
Today the two have formalized that alliance in a way never seen before. With the signing of a $500 million co-exclusive global licensing deal, AMC Global Media and Netflix have put pen to paper on a five-year arrangement covering every corner of The Walking Dead Universe. The numbers are telling. For AMC, the fee, doled out in quarterly cash over the life of the contract, is a welcome source of predictable income. CEO Kristin Dolan has been keen to monetize the network’s top intellectual property in this fashion even as she bolsters the company’s direct-to-consumer side of things.
The scope of the pact is considerable: 371 episodes from seven different series, the flagship program among them, not to mention Fear the Walking Dead, Tales of the Walking Dead, and the newer entries like Daryl Dixon, Dead City, The Ones Who Live and World Beyond. It is a fundamental reworking of how networks window a franchise these days.
Then there is the matter of AMC+. In a historic move for the proprietary platform, it will be able to put up the original The Walking Dead for the first time in the new year. Meanwhile, Netflix keeps its U.S. foothold and takes the franchise to fresh markets in places such as Australia, New Zealand, Italy and the U.K. By not building a walled garden and instead going with a co-exclusive approach, AMC is letting Netflix’s global reach do the work of drawing in viewers who may find their way back to the native ecosystem.
In an industry where the likes of pure exclusivity are being set aside for the practicalities of co-distribution, the deal is a case study in asset management. For Netflix, having the whole universe at hand makes its service the obvious archive for any fan of the show. As for AMC, the capital coming in means the apocalypse can go on in its own way, financially speaking.
The $500 million union is, in the end, a case in point for how the old guard of hard-line streaming exclusivity is being superseded by something more practical. AMC has chosen to make use of Netflix’s worldwide presence as opposed to retreating into its own walled garden, and in doing so it does more than put a reliable financial safety net in place; it guarantees The Walking Dead will keep its cultural sway. It is a textbook example of how to run a franchise these days. It shows that where there is a choice between total control and broad access, the latter wins out. In the current media climate, a deft hand with distribution will always trump an obstinate isolationism.