Watching “Goliath” on Amazon Prime, I enjoyed Billy Bob Thornton playing the role of the brilliant, but drunken, attorney. He won a Golden Globe for his role, and the
show was critically embraced. But a month later, series creator David E. Kelley still couldn’t say for sure there would be a second season.
He told Deadline, “We are hopeful, I believe it’s likely. We
were told — you have to believe their own press releases — that it’s their No.1 show. That leads us to believe that we probably would be picked up for a second season.”
That’s a scenario--and a sentence--that would have been impossible back in the days Kelley was the executive producer of NBC’s “L.A. Law” long
ago, or “Ally McBeal” or “Boston Legal.” Because, in the television world, Nielsen ratings were reported, daily and weekly, so everybody knew how well those prime-time series
were performing. Their success was documented.
Not so for “Goliath” or other content produced by Amazon or Netflix or Hulu. They don’t say. How do you
know? “Goliath” may be the best-watched thing ever on Amazon. Or not. (It was, however, renewed a month after Kelley's comments.)
Fair compensation from
streaming services is the looming issue as the Writers Guild of America begins negotiating new contracts with the alliance of studios that work on the pacts. Those talks started Monday in gloriously
snow-less Los Angeles.
Dan Stone, an entertainment and media attorney at Greenberg Glusker, and former general counsel for the Directors Guild of America, told the Los Angeles Times: “Transparency hasn't been there for
the streaming services. It's mostly subscription-driven so it's been difficult for the guilds to come up with a residuals formula.”
He says the WGA has
seemingly encouraging its members to get tough. They won’t be chillin’ with Netflix.
It’s possible that as much as the writers might like to come up
with their own unique plot line, they might settle for a sequel. The Directors Guild settled its own contract renewals in January by hammering out a deal that triples the residuals from major
streamers its members will receive for the next three years.
Of course, the WGA may want a different deal, but often the major craft guilds work in tandem when dealing with the studios.
One big difference about streaming video over traditional TV is that the length of a season is shorter. (That’s been a trend on TV, too.) That means there is
plenty of work, perhaps, but it’s tougher for writers getting shorter and shorter orders.
pj@mediapost.com