John Landgraf Wrestles with the Industry’s Streaming Reckoning and Getting Back to Basics in TV

variety.com:

William Earl FX chairman John Landgraf has a bulletin for a battered and bruised entertainment industry: People love traditional television.

After a decade of brinksmanship in content spending among the largest media conglomerates, old-school TV shows along the lines of procedural dramas and multicamera sitcoms fell far out of favor with the creative community.

But viewers never gave up on these tried and true forms. That’s one big lesson that Landgraf has learned during the past few years as FX has embarked on a journey of transformation into a branded hub on Hulu (and Disney+ outside the U.S.) while also maintaining its roots as a linear, ad-supported cable channel.

Speaking Nov. 19 at Variety‘s Business Managers Breakfast in West Hollywood, Landgraf noted that the norms have shifted so much that the industry’s challenge is to find a way to bring some of the old model’s protocols into a world that is awash in entertainment options.