The television landscape has changed radically in the last decade. The decline of open television together with the unstoppable rise of streaming platforms has multiplied both the number of actors and the fierce competition. Consequently, the number of series of all kinds has skyrocketed, multi-million dollar signings have become the norm and blockbusters , usually based on known previous properties, have become the best way to get attention.

While the bubble explodes, or not, The Hollywood Reporter has reviewed the great milestones of the last decade: from the move of Shonda Rhimes to Netflix for $ 100 million to the billionaire series of The Lord of the Rings that Amazon prepares.

1. 2011: Netflix produces House of Cards for 100 million dollars

The first earthquake was not of great intensity, but it predicted huge changes. At the beginning of the 2010s Netflix went from being a digital video store to producing its own content, initially timidly with a handful of great titles, to reach an expense of 15,000 million dollars in original series and films during 2019. House of Cards was the first stone of that strategy back in 2011. Netflix managed to beat HBO in the bidding for this political thriller produced by David Fincher, written by Beau Willimon and starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright . By the way, adaptation of a British homonymous series. The first two seasons cost 100 million dollars, a figure then spectacular that now almost seems calderilla.

2. 2013-2014: Netflix resurrects Arrested Development and rescues Community

Prequels, sequels, remakes and other versions have become the phenomenon of the decade. Not because before they did not occur, but because in a saturated market they manage to stand out while reducing promotion and marketing costs. Again, Netflix opened the ban when in 2013 it announced that it would produce a new season of Arrested Development , a comedy completed on Fox seven years earlier. Then there would be forced Mothers , File X , Gilmore Girls , Will & Grace or Roseanne .

Something similar has happened with several series canceled prematurely, or so they think their fans and the platforms that rescued them. Shortly after NBC finalized Community , Yahoo announced that it would produce one more delivery. It was 2014. Hulu did the same with The Mindy Project after being canceled on Fox. And Netflix did with The Killing , original from AMC, Longmire from A&E, Lucifer from Fox and designated Successor from ABC.

3. 2017: Netflix signs Shonda Rhimes for 100 million dollars

The mantra of these times: content is king. And five years after starting to produce series, Netflix decided to sign the most famous creators of the United States to continue increasing its catalog and reduce its dependence on series and films licensed by other companies.

The first blow on the table was given by Shonda Rhimes, architect of Grey's Anatomy who left ABC in 2017 for 100 million dollars. A year later Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee , American Horror Story or American Crime Story , traded Fox for Netflix for $ 300 million . Even the creators of Game of Thrones , David Benioff and DB Weiss, left HBO to work with the streaming giant for about $ 200 million.

The rest of the companies took note and renewed their talent contracts by disbursing similar figures: for example, WarnerMedia and JJ Abrams, prolific co-creator of Alias , Lost or Fringe , and director of the last Star Wars trilogy, renewed their relationship for 500 million of dollars.

4. 2017: Amazon will adapt The Lord of the Rings for one billion dollars

After the global success of Game of Thrones around the world, fantastic dramas began to swarm on television. Amazon went further by announcing a franchise of The Lord of the Rings . The idea: produce a first series of two seasons and then build your own universe. Prime Video began by paying 250 million dollars to get the rights to Tolkien's books , a figure that would have to add the production and promotion costs of the series. It is estimated that the total budget of this Lord of the rings could exceed one billion dollars.

5. 2019: NBCUniversal pays $ 500 million to recover The Office

With the proliferation of digital services, all companies are recovering their dispersed properties. Hence the classic series have become the last battlefield of the streaming war. While planning to launch its own platform, NBCUniversal disbursed $ 500 million to recover one of its series, The Office , until then on Netflix. WarnerMedia loosened $ 425 million to broadcast Friends on HBO Max and $ 600 million for The Big Bang Theory . To top it off, Netflix paid 500 million for issuing Seinfeld .

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

    Public TVE workers call off the strike for Lottery Day and Chimes

    PolémicaTVE admits that he unwittingly issued the RT interview to Puigdemont but rules out that sabotage comes from outside

    EventsThey steal at Semedo's house while concentrated with Barça