John Landgraf: What's After ‘Peak TV'

‘Where are YouTube and Apple going to go?’ asks THR’s TV Executive of the Year as the FX CEO takes aim at Netflix (‘shoveling money’) and rejects the ‘heat-seeking missile’ strategy that ‘leaves shows as an afterthought’

- Lacey Rose

On Feb. 5, the FX logo splashed across 111 million television screens. “In a year with over 450 scripted series, one network has the three most critically acclaimed of all,” a voice could be heard saying, as viewers of the 51st Super Bowl were treated to snippets of The Americans (“the most celebrated drama”), Atlanta (“the most acclaimed comedy”) and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (“the most acclaimed program”).

It was a bold statement about creative prowess, and one that FX Networks CEO John Landgraf had made at least once before. In fact, three and a half weeks earlier, Landgraf, 55, stood on the Television Critics Association stage — where he once famously coined the term “peak TV” and semiannually earns the unofficial title “the mayor of television” — and rattled off those and other impressive data points, including FX’s 406 inclusions on 152 yearend best lists, the top showing of any television network.

Had the Super Bowl spot run longer, Landgraf could have worked in the basic cable record that his network shattered at September’s Emmy Awards. Thanks in large part to American Crime Story and Fargo, FX took home 18 statuettes, the most in the network’s 23-year history and a sum second only to HBO’s. Viewership followed: FX and younger-skewing sibling FXX rounded out the year with two of cable’s top five scripted dramas (O.J., American Horror Story: Roanoke) and three of its top five comedies (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Archer and Atlanta).