Netflix Signs ‘Bridgerton’ Producer Shonda Rhimes to New Deal

“I want her to think of Netflix as the biggest canvas possible to create on,” Netflix Co-Chief Executive and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said in an interview.

The new accord comes on the heels of Shondaland’s smash hit “Bridgerton,” a steamy historical drama that has become one of Netflix’s most successful shows around the globe. Netflix has already given “Bridgerton” an unprecedented four-season commitment. A spinoff of the show is also in the works.

Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, but Ms. Rhimes will continue to be one of the highest-paid creators at Netflix, and deservedly so, said Mr. Sarandos. Ms. Rhimes’s longtime producing partner Betsy Beers has renewed her partnership with Shondaland as part of the expanded deal.

Netflix’s new agreement with Ms. Rhimes comes as competition among streaming services continues to heat up. With 208 million subscribers around the world, Netflix still leads the pack. But the growth it achieved during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many homebound viewers devoured media content, appears to be slowing as many parts of the world loosen restrictions and consumer behaviors again reshuffle.

Netflix added four million new subscribers in the first quarter of 2021, 40% lower than the six million it had forecast to Wall Street. Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Reed Hastings said of the results, “It’s just a little wobbly right now.”

Besides citing the huge growth in 2020 as a reason for the subsequent slowdown, Netflix also said pandemic-related curbs on production left the service with fewer original shows to offer subscribers in the first quarter, saying that also was likely a factor in the lower number.

New entrants putting pressure on Netflix include Walt Disney Co. ’s Disney+ and AT&T Inc.’s HBO Max streaming services. Amazon.com Inc., which operates the Prime Video streaming platform, is also getting more aggressive. It unveiled a deal in May to acquire the MGM television and movie studio in a deal valued at $6.5 billion excluding debt.

When Netflix first wooed Ms. Rhimes away from her longtime producing home at Disney nearly four years ago, industry watchers saw it as a shot across the bow of traditional media. The creator of megahits for Disney’s ABC broadcast network, including “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” Ms. Rhimes said at the time that she was burned out on the pace of network television, which typically demands as many as 24 episodes a season.

At Netflix, “Bridgerton” was her company’s first big swing, premiering more than three years after she signed her deal.

“I’m eternally grateful for Ted to give me time to kick off the network training wheels,” Ms. Rhimes said Thursday.

Mr. Sarandos said that he wanted to give her the time and space for her work. “TV shouldn’t be a grind; it’s an art form,” he said, adding that she has the “rare gift of having her finger on the pulse of fandom.”

Shondaland has a large slate of shows in the works, and projects are now coming together more quickly, Ms. Rhimes said. Besides the “Bridgerton” spinoff about the show’s Queen Charlotte character, other high-profile series in development include “Inventing Anna,” about convicted con artist Anna Sorokin, that is expected to debut next year.

As part of Ms. Rhimes’s new deal, Netflix said it is also investing in Shondaland’s efforts to create diversity and equity programs to boost workplace inclusion in the U.S. and U.K.

Several other prominent creators, including Ryan Murphy and Kenya Barris, followed Ms. Rhimes’s jump to Netflix, with mixed results. Mr. Murphy has been very prolific at the company, with several shows on the service, but few have been big hits. Mr. Barris left his deal early after making only one scripted show, “#blackAF,” and is now based at ViacomCBS Inc.

Netflix has also been aggressive in signing talent for its movie unit. Last month it struck a production deal with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners and earlier this month signed producer Greg Berlanti to an exclusive movie deal.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications
An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Ryan Murphy as Mr. Ryan in one instance. (Corrected on July 8)