Netflix got into the streaming video business by running shows that had already appeared on TV.
Turnabout: Now Netflix is bringing repeats of its home-grown shows to TV
“Narcos” is coming to Univision.
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
Now it is flipping the script: A show that originally ran on Netflix will appear on TV.
Univision will air the first season of “Narcos,” Netflix’s series about drug lord Pablo Escobar, on its main network later this year, in advance of the show’s second-season debut on Netflix. Univision will also run the first season of “Club de Cuervos,” a Spanish-language series, on its UniMas network, in advance of that show’s second Netflix season.
This reverse migration, with Netflix providing content to the TV networks it normally buys content from, is certainly worth noting. It literally would have been unimaginable until a few years ago, when Netflix started creating shows people cared about.
Even today, Netflix spends much more money buying other people’s old stuff than it does on stuff it makes for itself, so this is very much across the grain for the service.
But this deal doesn’t appear to be a moneymaker for Netflix: A press release announcing the deal uses the work “promotion” and “promotional” three times, so I’m guessing Netflix thinks this helps it promote its shows and its service. Which would indicate it’s not getting paid much, if anything, to license this stuff to TV.
A Netflix rep declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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