To Make Streaming Shows a Cultural Hit, Do Providers Need to Start Putting Them on TV?
ABC may get new episodes of ‘Only Murders in the Building’ going forward, and airing on that channel has increased the hours streamed for the show on Hulu.
Despite the outwardly adversarial nature of linear television and streaming, there are ways for these two mediums to work together. Disney and Spectrum are demonstrating one such method, as Spectrum cable customers now get free access to Disney+ instead of having to pay to watch Disney content on cable channels and streaming simultaneously. Of course, it is much easier for linear and streaming to coexist when the platforms in question are owned by the same company. Disney is demonstrating another way that they can work together as the company is considering using its broadcast network ABC to air more episodes of its hit Hulu original series “Only Murders in the Building,” after the series’ first season aired on the network last month.
- ABC/Hulu chief Craig Erwich said at a Television Critics Association press event that “Only Murders” has done well for both platforms since moving to ABC.
- Erwich says more Hulu titles could head to ABC in the near future.
- Paramount has also had success in offering titles from its streamer on CBS while waiting for more scripted content.
Will Next Season of ‘Only Murders’ Premiere on ABC and Hulu?
After the 10-episode first season of the murder-mystery comedy aired on ABC for three weeks in January, thanks in large part to the duel writers and actors strikes that brought Hollywood to a halt last year, it does seem possible that “Only Murders” could transition from a streaming-only series to one that premieres on both Hulu and ABC in its forthcoming fourth season.
Hulu’s chief content officer Craig Erwich spoke with reporters at a Television Critics Association winter press event last week and discussed the potential for “Only Murders” to branch out. Since premiering on the flagship network last month, the show has done quite well, and Erwich points out that many who started watching on ABC migrated to Hulu to continue watching subsequent seasons of the series. First streams of the show increased by 40% after shifting to linear TV, and hours streamed climbed by 39%.
That success could lead to other titles moving from Hulu to ABC. Erwich says that the company is already on the lookout for titles that could be good candidates for a linear debut, but stressed that the decision-making process would be a deliberate one and that only titles that fit well with ABC’s current content would be considered.
“We’re certainly open to doing it with ‘Only Murders’ again and/or other shows,” Erwich said. “When we look at both ABC and Hulu, it’s one big chessboard, so you’re able to see where certain audiences watch certain shows, some migrate from one platform to another. ‘Only Murders’ was really a perfect show to put on ABC, not only did we know that not a lot of people had watched it yet, as popular as it is, which is hard to believe, but ‘Only Murders’ has that broad, comedic, aspirational tone and quality that I think aligns very well with the ABC brand.”
He pointed specifically to “Abbott Elementary” as a title that used the same broad themes, and that it helped that when the two comedies aired back-to-back on ABC that audiences could watch them in the same viewing session without a big tonal shift. “Abbott Elementary” premieres its new episodes on ABC, and streams on Hulu the next day.
“Again, underscoring how these platforms are additive and complementary to one another,” Erwich continued. “This experiment created an incredible opportunity for us and our audience. As we evolve the broadcast model, this is something we will look to do again.”
Will More Streamers Put Their Exclusives on TV?
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes from 2023 forced the hand of many providers who were suddenly faced with an empty fall release schedule. To fill programming gaps and offer viewers something besides a steady diet of unscripted shows, media companies began shifting older episodes of titles that were streaming originals to their broadcast channels.
Paramount sent its Taylor Sheridan-created series “1883” to Paramount Network in June 2023, after the WGA strike had begun but before SAG-AFTRA joined writers on the picket lines. That may well have been a test run for Paramount Global, as the company signaled it could start doing likewise with Paramount+ originals on CBS if the strikes were prolonged. That’s exactly what happened, and CBS began airing episodes of Sheridan’s biggest hit “Yellowstone” in fall 2023.
Peacock — the streaming service that currently holds the streaming rights for “Yellowstone” — saw viewership of the show rise 26% after its premiere on CBS last fall, so it’s clear that the viewership jump experienced by “Only Murders” on Hulu is not an aberration. TV series that air on linear networks have an established track record of boosting their viewership on streaming.
That could well lead to more companies placing episodes of older series onto linear channels. In The Streamable’s expert view, this is likely at least in the short-term, as production houses are still getting back to business in the wake of the now-ended strikes. It can also be a highly useful marketing tool in the future, as streamers like Hulu prepare to unleash new seasons of scripted original shows.
Take “The Bear,” for example. Like “Abbott Elementary” and “Only Murders,” “The Bear” is highly aspirational, and it could fit in well with other ABC titles; it would have to contend with some heavy editing for language, but “Yellowstone” prominently features profanity, violence, and nudity, and CBS was able to make those broadcasts work. Hulu has announced that the show’s third season will premiere in June, and it could boost viewership for the title even more if it placed the first two seasons on ABC ahead of Season 3’s debut. “The Bear” is billed as an FX original series, but its episodes debut on Hulu first, and a shift to a broadcast channel instead of a cable channel for older episodes could widen the potential audience.
From the audience’s perspective, this strategy allows viewers to get a taste of a specific title on a free broadcast channel before deciding to commit their money to a streaming service. As the costs of streaming rise, customers are more picky than ever about which services they stay subscribed to, and giving viewers access to full, uncensored/unedited episodes of shows they were already enjoying in a more limited form on broadcast networks could be a very effective way of keeping them engaged, at least until they’re done binging that title.
It’s not likely that all streaming providers will follow this strategy, and those that do probably won’t put all their new episodes on a broadcast channel to lead customers to their streaming platforms. But there’s no denying that putting a show on broadcast TV can make it a broader cultural hit among audiences, and that can lead to better linear and streaming ratings for a given show.
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Hulu is a video streaming service that gives access to thousands of full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, kids shows, and Hulu Originals like “Only Murders in the Building,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”