Netflix still wants to be in the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle business

Netflix may not see a lot of return for the couple's shows, but it is getting a cut of Markle's lifestyle brand.

Netflix still wants to be in the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle business
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Netflix has balked at paying writers a sustainable wage and continues to squeeze as much subscription money out of its users as possible, but when it comes to exiled royals making occasional lifestyle content, it seems there are unlimited resources. The streamer has reportedly extended its deal with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which resulted in five projects over the last five years (Polo; With Love, Meghan; Heart Of Invictus; Harry & Meghan; and Live To Lead). While the terms of the agreement haven’t yet been disclosed, it’s apparently less strict: this is a first look deal, rather than an overall deal granting Netflix exclusive rights to all Archewell content, per Deadline. Netflix is also partnering with Markle on her lifestyle brand “As ever.”

We’re proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together to include the As ever brand,” Markle said in a statement (via Deadline). “My husband and I feel inspired by our partners who work closely with us and our Archewell Productions team to create thoughtful content across genres that resonates globally, and celebrates our shared vision.”

Harry and Meghan are influential voices whose stories resonate with audiences everywhere,” Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, said in her own statement. “The response to their work speaks for itself—Harry & Meghan gave viewers an intimate look into their lives and quickly became one of our most-watched documentary series. More recently, fans have been inspired by With Love, Meghan, with products from the new As ever line consistently selling out in record time. We’re excited to continue our partnership with Archewell Productions and to entertain our members together.”

Harry, Meghan, and Archewell have had a lot of eyes on them on account of not much actually materializing out of their production company (one Spotify executive denounced them as “grifters” after their expensive podcasting deal dried up). The Guardian reports that With Love, Meghan—a second season of which will debut later this month—failed to break into the streamer’s top 300 shows in the first half of this year, while Harry’s documentary, Polo, ranked 3,346 of 7,000 shows.” However, the lifestyle brand apparently did move some products, so Netflix clearly sees value in keeping them around. And they’re far from the only creators bleeding money from streamers and getting little content in return; Phoebe Waller-Bridge has made even less over at Amazon, and her deal got extended too, in a similar “first look rather than overall” situation. This is just how Hollywood works, guys!

 
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