{"id":7148,"date":"2017-01-03T11:44:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-03T16:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/"},"modified":"2017-01-05T09:43:46","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T14:43:46","slug":"2016-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"TV Drama: 2016 Year in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mansha Daswani spotlights\u00a0some of the drama trends from last year, which saw a record number of scripted original series across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPeak TV\u201d officially joined the media lexicon in 2015\u2014that year, FX Networks chief John Landgraf made headlines when he declared that there was \u201ctoo much\u201d scripted television on air. FX Networks-commissioned research found that there were 409 scripted titles across the U.S. landscape in 2015. Fast-forward 12 months and Julie Piepenkotter, the executive VP of research at FX Networks, confirmed that U.S. scripted hasn\u2019t peaked yet. \u201cPeak TV was once again far from peaky in 2016, with a record 455 scripted original series across broadcast, cable and streaming sources.\u201d That marks an 8-percent gain on 2015 and a whopping 71-percent increase since 2011.<\/p>\n

Most (181) were on basic cable, followed by network TV (145), streaming (93) and then pay cable (36).<\/p>\n

The fact that there was so much drama coming out of the U.S., though, wasn\u2019t the only game-changer in 2016; indeed, European scripted\u2019s light grew even brighter, Turkey\u2019s exports broke new ground, Latin American broadcasters innovated with \u201csuper series\u201d and several Asian dramas are being formatted across the globe. (Notable examples: Nippon TV\u2019s\u00a0Mother<\/em>\u00a0becoming\u00a0a Turkish hit\u00a0and ABC in the U.S. ordering a murder mystery based on a Korean series.)<\/p>\n

What else can we discern from a review of the big stories we covered in our drama resources this year?<\/p>\n

In the quest for breakout hits, producers are eagerly snapping up book rights as they look for new ways to clamber through the clutter. Some of the productions in the works include adaptations of Michel Bussi\u2019s\u00a0Le Temps est Assassin<\/em>\u00a0(Time is a Killer<\/em>), Maria Semple’s\u00a0Today Will Be Different<\/em>\u00a0(starring Julia Roberts in her first TV role), Swedish author Jan Guillou\u2019s best-selling Hamilton books, Chloe Benjamin\u2019s\u00a0The Immortalists<\/em>\u00a0(with that deal sealed before the book was even on shelves), Aldous Huxley\u2019s\u00a0Brave New World<\/em>, Robert Heinlein\u2019s\u00a0Stranger in a Strange Land<\/em>\u00a0and John le Carr\u00e9\u2019s\u00a0The Spy Who Came in from the Cold<\/em>\u00a0(on the heels of the critical and commercial success of AMC\/BBC\u2019s\u00a0The Night Manager<\/em>). Plus, BBC inked a significant deal with Agatha Christie Productions for seven new adaptations of the author\u2019s work over the next four years.<\/p>\n

Networks and producers are even dealing directly with famed authors\u2014James Patterson has an agreement with ID and Harlan Coben set up his own outfit with the U.K.\u2019s RED Production Company. Margaret Atwood also had a fruitful TV year, with\u00a0Alias Grace<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>\u00a0both heading to screens in 2017.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the reboot\/spin-off\/inspired-by trend persisted throughout the year, with mixed degrees of success. Some of the projects in the works for 2017 are a\u00a0Sons of Anarchy<\/em>\u00a0spin-off, a\u00a0Snowpiercer<\/em>\u00a0series, new versions of\u00a0Knight Rider\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Dynasty<\/em>, an adaptation of\u00a0The Lost Boys<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Tom Clancy\u2019s Jack Ryan<\/em>\u00a0for Amazon.\u00a0Star Trek: Discovery<\/em>\u00a0and a\u00a0Good Wife<\/em>\u00a0spin-off are part of CBS\u2019s efforts to make its All Access SVOD service a must-have subscription. And\u00a0Twin Peaks<\/em>\u00a0fans will be eagerly awaiting David Lynch\u2019s return to that story this year on Showtime.<\/p>\n

Dramas inspired by true events and significant personalities remained a hot commodity in 2016, most notably led by FX\u2019s\u00a0The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story<\/em>. There are plenty more in the wings for 2017, including dramas about El Chapo and Albert Einstein.<\/p>\n

While serialized shows made the most headlines, the demand for compelling procedurals remains high\u2014some of the market\u2019s biggest have come to an end (think\u00a0Castle<\/em>) or will end soon (Bones<\/em>). Several companies are looking to fill that gap in the market. Entertainment One\u2019s\u00a0Ransom<\/em>\u00a0begins rolling out in 2017 with RTL, CBS, TF1 and Global as anchor partners. RTL and TF1 are also on board NBCUniversal International Studios\u2019 new procedural drama series,\u00a0Gone<\/em>, based on Chelsea Cain\u2019s novel\u00a0One Kick<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What else will we be keeping our eyes on this year? Netflix\u2019s global production strategy, as the platform steps up its localization efforts around the world. We\u2019ll also be eagerly watching the now-global Amazon Prime on the heels of its big investments like\u00a0Deutschland 86<\/em>. And how will HBO fill the gap left by\u00a0Game of Thrones<\/em>\u00a0(the most-pirated show in the world), which will end with season eight?<\/p>\n

Co-production is still the word of the moment, even though the very nature of drama co-pros is in a constant state of flux. How will alliances shift and evolve as broadcasters and platforms look to control as many rights as possible?<\/p>\n

For those making and selling drama these days, there\u2019s much to be excited about. The genres in demand are as diverse as the countries providing shows to the global market. Episode counts and durations are in flux as storytellers play with the freedom afforded them by online platforms. Master showrunners like Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes, Dick Wolf and Steven Moffat still command a lot of airtime, but that doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t room for new breakout talent (\u00e0 la the Duffer Brothers with Netflix\u2019s summer binge hit\u00a0Stranger Things<\/em>). But in an era of peak TV, there are challenges ahead. As Rebecca Eaton, the executive producer of Masterpiece on PBS, told me early last year, \u201cWhat will be the fate of all this product? How will the audience, even with time shifting, be able to manage it? It does seem a little unsustainable to me, and I speak from a focus group of one, myself, just trying to keep up with the [shows] I want to watch. With all this drama, I don\u2019t know how anybody can keep up in the numbers we need them to keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow all the latest developments in drama with\u00a0TV Drama Breaking News<\/em>,\u00a0TV Drama Daily<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0TV Drama Weekly<\/em>\u00a0(sign up\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>) and visit TVDrama.ws<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spotlights the drama trends from last year, which saw a record number of scripted originals across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":7153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nTV Drama: 2016 Year in Review - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TV Drama: 2016 Year in Review - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spotlights the drama trends from last year, which saw a record number of scripted originals across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-03T16:44:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-05T14:43:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/01\/2016_Year_In_Review-117-e1483627128601.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"367\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/\",\"name\":\"TV Drama: 2016 Year in Review - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-03T16:44:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-05T14:43:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/2016-year-in-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TV Drama: 2016 Year in Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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