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Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland Leaves ABC for Netflix Partnership

Fans of Shondaland are in for a treat as an announcement was made that Shonda Rhimes recently joined Netflix for a multi year deal. Rhimes brings strong emotion, death, murder, and scandal to her television series’ and the jump to Netflix only stands to ensure that her rise to the top will continue.

Ted Sarandos, CCO of Netflix, had this to say about welcoming Shondaland to Netflix.

Shonda Rhimes is one of the greatest storytellers in the history of television. Her work is gripping, inventive, pulse-pounding, heart-stopping, taboo-breaking television at its best. I’ve gotten the chance to know Shonda and she’s a true Netflixer at heart — she loves TV and films, she cares passionately about her work, and she delivers for her audience. We’re so excited to welcome her to Netflix.

Rhimes herself had this to say about taking Shondaland to Netflix and what that means for the future.

Shondaland’s move to Netflix is the result of a shared plan Ted Sarandos and I built based on my vision for myself as a storyteller and for the evolution of my company. Ted provides a clear, fearless space for creators at Netflix. He understood what I was looking for — the opportunity to build a vibrant new storytelling home for writers with the unique creative freedom and instantaneous global reach provided by Netflix’s singular sense of innovation. The future of Shondaland at Netflix has limitless possibilities.’

For fans of her already massively successful series’ Grey’s Anatomy, HTGAWM, and Scandal who may be wondering what that means for the TGIT lineup? Those shows will stay with ABC and continue to grow as the move to Netflix is for Shondaland to embark on new stories to tell.

Channing Dungey, president of ABC said this on the Shondaland legacy and what won’t change regarding that incredible TIGT lineup.

Shonda, Betsy and I started working together with the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy and those early days will forever remain one of the highlights of my professional life. We are happy to continue working with Shonda and her team at Shondaland on Grey’s, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and the upcoming For the People and Grey’s spin-off. I’m proud to have given a home to what have become some of the most celebrated and talked about shows on television. With the launch of a new season upon us, fans can rest assured that TGIT remains intact and will be as buzzed about as ever.

This isn’t the first big announcement for huge television names moving to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, it was announced that Robert Kirkman be leaving AMC for Amazon just days ago and it makes you wonder, what does the future hold for network programming when streaming services offer a seemingly wider (and less defined) platform for certain genres?