Netflix Wants More Licensed Shows After Suits Successs

Netflix's quarterly report reveals they hope to "license more hit titles."

By Jenna Anderson

Suits has become a smash success for Netflix, with the legal drama breaking viewership records since arriving on the platform earlier this year. The series, which originally aired on the USA Network, has broken a wide array of records since hitting the platform, and most recently broke the all-time record for most #1 finishes on the Nielsen Streaming Top 10. The phenomenon of the show has been more surprising given the fact that it is not a Netflix original, and is not even exclusively streaming on the platform, as the show is also available on Peacock. Still, the company did acknowledge the impressive achievement of Suits during their latest quarterly earnings report. In the process, Netflix revealed that they hope to make deals for more licensed programming in the future, in hopes of capturing a similar sort of magic. The streamer has already made deals for a few HBO shows, with Ballers and Insecure becoming popular on their platform.

"This legal drama originally premiered on USA Network in 2011 and ran until 2019. Despite having been available on other streaming services, the debut of seasons one to eight on Netflix in July broke viewing records," Netflix noted in its results. "Licensing has always been an important part of our programming strategy. As the competitive environment evolves, we may have increased opportunities to license more hit titles to complement our original programming. We believe this will deliver additional value for our members (i.e., engagement), as well as for rights holders who benefit from the increased awareness and revenue that Netflix delivers, in addition to the new life that success on Netflix can drive," it added.

Why Is Suits So Popular?

As Suits executive producer Gene Klein explained in a recent interview, he believes the renewed success has been thanks to the show's ability to be rewatched, as well as the Netflix algorithm suggesting it to new viewers.

"I think there's two different things going on, one set of things that has to do with the show itself and another that has to do with the power of a particular platform," Klein revealed. "On the one hand, anecdotally, people reach out to me all the time, so I know it still finds new viewers here and there. But there's also something about the show that is rewatchable. There's people who've watched it all when it was coming out and find it very comforting to watch again. And it's also, I think, a unique enough show that it's very rewatchable. You discover new things as you're rewatching it. So there's an additional set of things about the show that reveal themselves watching it again. So it's a tribute to the show, creatively. But then it's also a tribute to the power of Netflix because it's been on Peacock for a while. There's a hat tip that needs to go to Netflix and the power of their platform because it's finding people."

Will There Be a Suits Revival?

Amid the impressive performance of Suits on Netflix, some have begun to wonder if we could possibly get a continuation of the series, which originally wrapped in 2019. Earlier this month, it was reported that NBCUniversal and creator Aaron Korsh is developing a new series set in the show's universe.

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"You know, I've mentioned to [creator] Aaron [Korsh] that I keep, in this era of reboots and reunions and all this other stuff, that I'm expecting a call at some point," executive producer Gene Klein explained. "But I'm not aware of any serious conversations. It's just one of those things where, in this day and age, you wouldn't be surprised if somebody called you someday. But so far, nothing that I'm aware of."

"As you might remember, it was a complicated dance keeping everybody involved, getting all the actors deals done and keeping them involved through the end of the show," Klein added. "I'd be surprised if we could thread that needle for a reunion, but I'd also be delighted if that happened because [when] you do a show for that long, everybody becomes such good friends. A lot of us saw each other a month or so ago because there was a Suits-themed picket at Fox one day, and a lot of the writers, some of whom didn't know each other because people were on Seasons 1 and 2, but not the later seasons, so some of the writers were meeting for the first time. But a lot of the actors came to that as well."

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