Netflix is trying to kill Shark Week and SharkFest

First, NatGeo came for the cartilaginous neck of Shark Week. This year, NatGeo is delivering its 13th annual SharkFest. Basically, it's Shark Week but with different branding. It's a Fest! NatGeo also has Disney behind it, which is why you see its programming on Disney+, and it has an ace up its sleeve this SharkFest. On July 10, a documentary to celebrate the 50th anniversary of "Jaws," which has Steven Spielberg's full cooperation, debuts as park of SharkFest. 

This year, though, Netflix has tried to beat both Discovery and NatGeo to the punch. It's the latest attempt by the streaming giant to carve out a piece of a pre-existing cultural phenomenon. They now have live sports, pro wrestling, and churn out the kind of half-baked documentaries that used to live on cable. Netflix has been a pox on theaters, and it fully has linear TV in its crosshairs. 

How is Netflix looking to take a significant bite out of Disney's NatGeo and Discovery's last bit of cultural relevance? By delivering shark-related programming at the time of the year people are looking for it, but doing it earlier. The documentary "Shark Whisperer" debuted on June 30 and has gotten the Netflix push that has kept it (legitimately or not) in the top 10. On this Fourth of July weekend, they debuted a competition series called "All the Sharks."

Not unlike a great white shark, this is a test bite from Netflix. It can teach its audience that "Hey, this is where to get shark programming" and also leave audiences sated on the shark front before SharkFest or Shark Week arrive. Unless you're an absolute shark lover, you can probably be satisfied with just a smattering of shark content. If this ploy worked here in 2025, rest assured Netflix will up the shark content for next summer around this time. It will probably have its own bit of branding as well. Shark-a-Palooza or what have you. 

If Netflix wants a certain sliver of audience, Netflix goes for it. And if it leaves Shark Week and SharkFest flatlining? Well, Netflix would probably paraphrase Ivan Drago from Fourth of July weekend favorite "Rocky IV": If they die, they die.

(h/t The Hollywood Reporter)