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What's Selling, Who's Buying in TV: 'The Ability to Say No Has Never Been Higher'
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What's Selling, Who's Buying in TV: 'The Ability to Say No Has Never Been Higher'

'Succession'-style families, 'hard funny' comedy: agents, producers, writers reveal new demands of a post-strike, post-Peak TV era

Elaine Low's avatar
Elaine Low
Dec 06, 2023
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What's Selling, Who's Buying in TV: 'The Ability to Say No Has Never Been Higher'
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FAMILY DYSFUNCTION HBO’s Succession has set the current bar for the in-demand genre of drama. (Macall B. Polay/ HBO)

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This is first in a series examining the creative buying and selling landscape of 2024 for paid subscribers. Have thoughts or experiences you want to share confidentially? Email elaine@theankler.com.

It’s been an unusually tough year for Hollywood: 2023 started with thousands of job cuts across the studios and segued abruptly into six grueling months of labor strife. But with the ratification of the SAG-AFTRA contract on Dec. 6, the town is finally turning the page on this chapter in the New Year, getting production back in high gear and revving up the creative machine to do what it does best: make TV and movies people want to watch. 

As execs start putting meetings back on their calendars and writers blow the dust off Final Draft, it’s fair to ask: In a post-strike, post-Peak TV market, what are networks and streamers shopping for? A number of critical darlings (Succession, Ted Lasso) and network staples (Riverdale, The Flash) aired their series finales this year, so there are major holes to fill. But corporate Hollywood’s tightened belts point to fewer shows, fewer risks and un-renewals. 

There’s no such thing as a sure thing anymore. But slates still need to be filled. So we polled agents, producers and writers across town to find out:

  • What the major buyers are signaling they’re interested in.

  • The specific feedback being given agents and writers around drama and comedy.

  • The format everyone suddenly wants, and the genres they definitely don’t.

  • The appetite for procedurals.

  • And what in the world that certain buzzword all the buyers are using suddenly actually means.

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