Streamers shift focus to budget-friendly crime series

The TV industry is changing as streaming services face rising costs and decreasing budgets. Many companies are now focusing on crime stories instead of high-budget shows. Financing these elaborate series has become much harder. The Series Mania festival in Lille, France, showcases various ambitious international shows. Among this year's highlights is "Mussolini: Son of The Century," a historical biography, and "Kabul," which tells the story of Afghanistan's fall to the Taliban in 2021. However, despite the impressive lineup, the overall spending on new scripted series has dropped by 25% since last year. Streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+ are shifting their focus. They are investing more in sports and popular genres instead of premium series. This shift is leading to what experts call the "broadcast-ification of streaming." Consequently, crime dramas now dominate nearly half of all new commissions in Western Europe. Producers are concerned about the challenges posed by rising production costs and decreased funding. The gap between what shows cost and what networks are willing to pay is widening. Although some high-quality shows are still being produced, they are getting fewer resources than before. Collaborations between networks are becoming essential for financing. Co-productions, where multiple organizations share the costs and rights, are necessary to create new content. The need for these partnerships is driving a change in how networks negotiate and structure deals. Overall, the TV landscape is transforming. Streamers are adapting to the financial realities of the market, and as they focus more on licensing existing content, the variety of stories being told faces new challenges.