Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has evolved into a major platform for comedians, sponsoring a variety of specials and distributing them to its more than 220 million customers. The stock hit highest price at $236.45, beginning with a price of $237.05 and reported dropped 4.49% to the closed at $226.41 with day range of $221.43-$236.45. The total market capitalization remained $100.69 billion; total volume held in the session was 11.20 million shares surprisingly higher than its average volume of 9.90 million shares
Now, the streaming giant is changing the way it rewards the comics it offers, a move that might reduce its costs and shift some financial weight to the creators while giving them more control over their work, according to people familiar with the situation.
In recent months, Netflix has been licensing new specials from some comedians for two years for around $200,000, rather than purchasing them outright, which is more expensive, according to sources. Previously, many comics included a one-time fee often as much as $1 million to assist cover production costs.
The shift in strategy in one corner of Netflix’s comedy series reflects a larger move within the company to control expenditure as it faces fresh growth concerns. Netflix stated that it lost almost a million members in the June quarter due to increased competition. The company informed investors that it expected to keep its content expenditure in the $17 billion range in the next years.
Netflix has made significant investments in comedic content, propelling it to the forefront of the genre. Its schedule includes stand-up specials from “Fire Island” author Joel Kim Booster, as well as Taylor Tomlinson, whose work includes “Quarter-Life Crisis,” and “Saturday Night Live” author Sam Jay.
Many comics, such as Ali Wong and Hannah Gadsby, have benefited from the popularity of their Netflix shows. The top Netflix comedic talents, such as Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, might get paid tens of thousands of dollars for a single episode. Netflix is still interested in some offers that include developing and shopping for stand-up specials.
A Netflix spokeswoman declined to comment on the financial terms of the company’s deals with comedians. He stated that Netflix continues to be interested in stand-up comedy. According to him, the new licensing strategy offers “an extra, alternate channel for comedians (at all stages of their careers) to engage with Netflix in response to the present market.”
He added that the license deals enable further flexibility for artists who want the freedom to post samples of their content on social media.
