In a bold departure from the industry trend of appealing to a broad spectrum, Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios at AMC Networks, declared, “Some in our industry are trying to offer something for everyone. That is not the AMC approach.”
Opening the TCA press tour presentation, McDermott emphasized AMC Networks’ commitment to super-serving specific audiences and underscored the enduring significance of linear television.
The network’s lineup features diverse series such as The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, Clive Owen’s Monsieur Spade, Giancarlo Esposito’s Parish, and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. McDermott also showcased upcoming streaming series like Acorn TV’s Ellis and Allblk’s Deb’s House.
“Across all of our brands, our goal is to do one thing and to do it very well. With AMC and AMC+, that one thing is to produce high-quality premium scripted shows for adults,” he asserted. AMC Networks excels in super-serving genre-specific fanbases with services like Shudder for horror, Acorn TV for international mysteries, Hi-Dive for anime, and Allblk for celebrating Black voices and stories.
McDermott stressed the importance of Sunday nights, historically home to iconic series like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, especially for linear channels and their distribution partners. He emphasized their strategic commitment to delivering scripted first-run shows to linear television every Sunday night, a deliberate move to maintain relationships with distribution partners who carry AMC+ and targeted services.
According to McDermott, the definition of a premiere has evolved. “A premiere is no longer when a network decides to make a show available. Today, a premiere is whenever a viewer first decides to watch,” he declared, emphasizing the dynamic nature of modern viewing habits. AMC Networks aims to captivate audiences by intelligently timing content availability across platforms.
