Suits is having a renaissance. Sure, the former network drama was popular enough when it aired to warrant its 9 seasons on USA Network from 2011-2019, but now it's really having a heyday after arriving on Netflix in June. The show has become wildly popular, and has remained in Netflix’s Top 10 throughout the summer, with some clamoring for new episodes of Suits to be produced by the streamer. Despite its increased popularity and new viewership, the writers of the long-running drama are hardly making anything from streaming residuals.
Before streaming took over the world, writers received hefty backpay if a show was successful, which was a primary way television writers were able to maintain a living throughout season breaks, show cancellations and hiatuses. If a show kept running on a network and was popular, creatives would be awarded for it.
Things are often very different in the era of streaming, however. Writers and sisters Nora and Lilla Zuckerman explained to Decider that when Suits was running on USA, a cable network channel, the residual checks were significant, which differs heavily from any of the checks they receive from Netflix’s streaming viewership. Using a single episode of Suits called “Blowback” as an example, Lilla Zuckerman said:
I received $12,568.57 in residuals. That was back in 2016, where I imagine it was probably being sold internationally and re-airing on USA. This year, 2023, where Suits has been viewed for billions and billions of hours on Netflix, I received the grand total of $414.26 on that episode.
The differentiation in residual pay in the streaming age is one of the many issues surrounding the 2023 WGA Writers Strike. Network residuals allowed for creatives to profit off of their material as long as the network was also profiting off of it. That is no longer the case, and writers can no longer count on backpay from streaming--whether a show is popular or not. Zuckerman continued to explain:
You can’t necessarily count on [residual checks]. But people really did back in the day. When things would air on a network or basic cable, the work that you put in on a show — that the companies are still making money off of and they’re still monetizing — you were fairly compensated for that. And that is no longer the case…All we’re asking for is to go back to the functional way it was before.
Streamers allow viewers to access shows like never before, however the creatives behind them don’t seem to be bearing the fruits of their labor.
In my opinion, Suits’ popularity on streaming does seem to indicate the audience is interested in the property. The Patrick J. Adams starrer was a long-running cable show with primarily 16 episode seasons, something that is rarely ordered by streamers, who normally look to 8-10 episode, 3-4 season series with varying budgets. However, Suits seems to be outperforming shows with this model, maybe suggesting that the network model is not just something creatives are trying to maintain some semblance of, but also audiences.
Whether or not Suits' writers, or any writers for shows that are available on streaming, will receive better residuals after the new WGA contract is put into place continues to be negotiated. Streaming may be the future, but streaming needs television writers, and in order for that, the job of a television writer must be attractive to creatives. Streaming has become more advertiser-friendly, so this could make this kind of pay more feasible for streamers and studios. Hopefully, a new deal is negotiated soon so audiences continue to get great, binge-worthy TV series on Netflix like Suits.
The Writers Strike and the SAG-AFTRA Strike have continued as both unions fight for a more lucrative contract. CinemaBlend will continue to follow the unfolding events, and the effect it has on the 2024 release schedule. In the meantime, fans of Suits can stream the popular series with a Netflix subscription.
