With Its New Slate, Is Netflix Targeting Bravo, BBC America and The CW?

“Our brand is personalization,” Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said during an interview with Uproxx in 2016. “We didn’t want any show to define Netflix.” For the most part, that’s remained the case, to the ire of Netflix’s competitors. Broad family comedies like Fuller House have premiered on the platform the same year as prestige gems like The Crown. The streaming giant’s original programming has always relied on the idea of making something for everyone. But during a time when more and more companies are creating their own streaming services and taking their extensive libraries with them, it feels like Netflix isn’t merely creating content based on formulas. In some cases, it’s creating Netflix versions of entire brands.

One of the clearest examples of this is Our Planet, a gorgeously shot nature docuseries that feels identical to something that would premiere on BBC America. It even comes from the same creators: Our Planet was produced by Silverback Films, which is led by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, the same team responsible for Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Blue Planet. Because of this, it’s next to impossible not to look at Our Planet as a spiritual successor to BBC America’s award-winning nature films. In addition to its shockingly up-close footage of some of nature’s most extraordinary animals, the docuseries is even narrated by BBC mainstay Sir David Attenborough. This isn’t a criticism about Our Planet‘s quality; it’s a fantastic docuseries. Yet at times, it’s hard to see it as something other than Netflix’s take on the BBC.

Another recent Netflix addition, the real estate reality show Selling Sunset, feels like a series that could comfortably appear on Bravo. Created by The Hills‘ Adam DiVello, Selling Sunset has everything you could want from a hyper-dramatic reality show: gorgeous people who are sort of professionals; office in-fighting; snarky insults; and lavish parties for no particular reason. Only this time, all of these addicting and petty fights happen to be on your Netflix account, and not through a Bravo subscription.

The line between other networks’ brands and Netflix originals is becoming more and more blurred. The Canadian supernatural cult drama The Order consistently feels like a series made for fans of the CW’s The Vampire Diaries or The Originals. Similarly, Netflix’s upcoming young adult drama The Society about a group of teens living in a world without adults feels exactly like something that would be at home on the network responsible for Riverdale.

The Witcher, a sprawling fantasy series with a massive budget and an ambitious plot, has already been called Netflix’s Game of Thrones, an HBO staple. The upcoming vampire drama V-Wars starring Ian Somerhalder sounds like it could be a successor to HBO’s True Blood. Black Summer, a zombie apocalypse series set in the “Z Nation” universe already sounds like it’s courting the same audience as AMC’s The Walking Dead.

These are all individual shows, of course, but there is something pointedly different about the way Netflix is approaching its more recent slate. Real estate drama with pretty people is Bravo’s network identity. Nature docs are rapidly becoming BBC America’s signature offering, to the point that they just announced Saturdays will turn into a “micro-network” of animal themed shows. And what is The CW without teens having sex and murdering each other?

Even Netflix’s new talent acquisitions feel pointedly network focused. Shonda Rhimes, and to a lesser degree Kenya Barris, have done a lot to define ABC’s dramatic stamp and forward-thinking comedy brand, respectively. And it’s hard to even think about FX without praising a Ryan Murphy show. All three of these creators and mega-producers have signed exclusive deals with Netflix.

Of course, none of this is bad. There is no right or wrong way to create television, and any system that allows Rhimes and Murphy to completely let loose and make more television is a win for us all. However, this sort of targeted creation does indicate a smart safety net on Netflix’s part. If the CW decides to cancel its Netflix library deal, that won’t be as devastating of a blow if The Society and Stranger Things already have given a guaranteed young adult audience of their own. If ABC pulls Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and Grey’s Anatomy from Netflix’s backlogs, that’s fine. Netflix has the 2019 Rhimes and her Anna Delvay series to hold viewers. And Netflix is already preparing for when Disney takes back its catalog of beloved animated movies. As Fast Company recently explored, Netflix’s internal animation house is going strong, and it promises to deliver innovative shows beyond the limitations of a house brand.

Even since it first started being taken seriously in the world of television, Netflix has been criticized for its lack of a coherent brand. In this case, that’s not a bad thing, particularly if the streaming giant is using those same established brands as a template in its mission to create something for everyone.