TV & Radio

Obamas in talks with Netflix about TV series

President Obama and his wife Michelle could front debates or documentary-style shows

Barack Obama and Netflix reportedly are negotiating a deal for the former president and his wife, Michelle, to produce shows exclusively for the streaming service. Photograph: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Fri Mar 9 2018 - 09:40

Barack Obama is in talks with Netflix about a TV series that would give the former US president a global mouthpiece and the streaming service behind House of Cards another high-profile exclusive.

President Obama and his wife Michelle could front debates or documentary-style shows, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, which were first reported by the New York Times. No deal has yet been agreed and the Obamas have also talked to other tech companies including Apple and Amazon about a potential content partnership, the NYT reported. A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment.

If Netflix does win the rights to a series with the Obamas, who command an international audience of millions on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it would be the latest sign in the shifting power balance between internet streaming services and traditional broadcasters.

On Sunday, Netflix won its first Oscar for a full-length movie for Icarus, a documentary about Russian doping in the Olympics. It has already lured high-profile TV talent including Shonda Rhimes, who produced Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, and Glee creator Ryan Murphy from broadcast networks.

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Netflix has said it will invest as much as $8bn in original content this year. Its shift from licensing TV shows and movies from other broadcasters into owning and producing its own content began in earnest with 2013’s release of House of Cards, a political drama set in Washington DC that sees the ruthless Frank Underwood lie and murder his way into the White House.

For Mr Obama, Netflix’s 117m subscribers would provide a real platform to weigh in on world affairs. The former president, who left office just over a year ago, has continued to voice his opinion on American issues from gun control to healthcare reform but has largely stayed out of the spotlight since President Trump took office.

Mr Obama has already appeared on Netflix this year, in the first episode of talk-show host David Letterman’s new series. The hour-long interview passed without a single mention of Donald Trump by name.

Thursday evening’s report is not the first suggestion that Mr Obama could launch a new career in the media. After news site Mic reported in December 2016 that the outgoing president might launch his own media company, then White House communications director Jen Psaki said on Twitter that Mr Obama was “interested in the changing ways people consume info, but he has no plans to get into the media business after he leaves office”. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018

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