Do networks matter anymore?
Television networks, especially the major broadcast and big-tier cables ones, have long had distinctive identities.
CBS (PARA) tended to skew older (the median viewer is 63.2) and as broad as possible, hence all the NCIS spin-offs. ABC (DIS) was generally family friendly; its 10pm dramas could be a bit more adult, and were generally aimed at a female audience (think “Felicity” or “Grey's Anatomy.")
Fox (FOX) tended to be raunchy and often self-consciously edgy, whereas NBC (CMCSA) had a mix of upscale programming aimed at urbane, educated audiences (“30 Rock,” “Frasier”) and more broadly mainstream material that sometimes fits awkwardly with the brand (“The A-Team,” “The Biggest Loser,” and so on).
In the streaming era, there would ostensibly be less importance paid to where television shows come from, it only matters which platform the shows end up. To the fans that discovered them via streaming, “The Office” and “Friends” were Netflix shows (and now Peacock and HBO Max shows) not NBC shows, and that was all that mattered to them.
But as technology evolves, tastes change and society adapts, there can be a tendency with critics and trend prognosticators to throw the baby out with the bathwater and to dismiss certain cultural ideas and institutions as things of the past, when they still have a bit of life left in them.
So just as rock ‘n’ roll never really seems to die and people still like seeing a movie in theaters, FX and Hulu’s surprise summer “The Bear” shows that there’s still something to the idea of a network having a distinct, recognizable brand.
Disney Buying FX Was An Unexpected But Smart Move
Rupert Murdoch shocked the entertainment industry when he sold all the non-Fox News assets of his media empire to Disney in a $66 billion deal in 2017.
The deal allowed Murdoch to focus more fully on his news empire, and to get out of the ever changing entertainment business, while Disney inherited the film and television studios responsible for hits ranging from “The Simpsons” to “Titanic,” as well as a controlling stake in the streaming service Hulu, while Marvel get the rights back to the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises.
Disney has long been synonymous with the term “family-friendly entertainment” (its streaming service Disney+ is often referred to as the ultimate babysitter) and its corporate strategy has focused on franchise films and turning recognizable intellectual property into prequels to theme parks attractions to lunch boxes.
But as a company, Disney has also recognized the value of a diverse portfolio and appealing to adults as well; it did once own the independent film company Miramax during the height of the ‘90s indie boom, and its production label Touchstone Pictures once made adult-oriented films such as “Pretty Woman” and “Good Morning, Vietnam” before it eventually petered out.
So as Disney moved “The Simpsons” onto its Disney+ streaming service, it has lately begun using Hulu as its output for things parents might want to enjoy after the kids go away (or that their college-age children might get into), such as the recent buzzed about direct-to-stream films “Fire Island” and “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.”
(In a recent post-mortem into the streaming wars by Vulture’s Josef Adalian, several insiders speculated that Disney was ultimately neglecting Hulu and needed to fold it into Disney+, which might make sense from a subscription point of view, but the parents that love Disney+ would likely object to the very adult content found in the above-mentioned “Fire Island” and “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.”)
But perhaps one of the smartest choices Disney made was to generally leave FX alone.
FX Proves That Networks Still Matter
Launched as a cable off-shoot of Fox in the ‘90s, the network found its footing two decades ago with the launch of the ground-breaking drama “The Shield.” It has since become home to acclaimed, ground-breaking programs such as “Atlanta,” “You’re The Worst,” “Justified” and “Better Things,” and FX president John Landgraf has often been called “The Smartest Man In Television.”
Landgraf’s gifts are many, but chief among them are an eye for talent (Ryan Murphy wouldn’t be the power broker producer he is without the FX hit “Nip/Tuck”) and his dedication to an identifiable aesthetic: smart but not stuff, edgy and grungy without being pretentious, sophisticated but entertaining, i.e., he makes shows for discerning adults, and he’s allergic to pandering.
When Disney’s purchase of Fox’s assets was finalized, the only real change made to FX was the launch of the FX on Hulu label, in which the network made shows that went directly to the streaming service, rather than airing on TV and appearing on the platform the next day. (The first show in this endeavor was the 2020 Alex Garland’s sci-fi series “Devs,” which quickly found its cult.)
Other than that, Disney just let FX be FX. And with the surprise success of the FX on Hulu series “The Bear,” this approach has paid off smashingly.
As anyone with a Twitter account quickly noticed after it launched in late June, “The Bear” Is the surprise hit of the summer. Created by Christopher Storer and starring “Shameless” actor Jeremy Allen White, it follows the story of Carmy, a cook who returns to run the family restaurant Original Beef of Chicagoland following a family tragedy.
Thanks to White’s charismatic, damaged puppy appeal, the frenetic but compelling high-pressure storytelling and a distinctive distinctive milieu, the series quickly caught on online. (A soundtrack filled with aging hipster favorites like R.E.M. and Wilco certainly helped the intended audience clue into the series.)
In a television landscape where stories about working class people, and people who don’t live in New York or L.A., are increasingly rare, and many streaming shows are accused of being flavorless and samey, “The Bear” felt like nothing else on television…except for the shows on FX.
So even as streaming services continue to take over the television landscape, FX's success with "The Bear," proves that there's no replacement for smart storytelling, and for network's that continue to foster a clear point of view. Technology still can't replace the basics.
