Netflix is the classic streaming service, the main place people watch their favorite shows and movies. Recently, Netflix’s popularity has begun to level out, with the amount of new U.S. accounts not replacing those removed. When choosing to switch to another streaming service, many state Netflix’s tendencies to cancel or remove the shows and movies as their reason.
So why do Netflix and other streaming services cancel shows seemingly loved by the consumer? Even beyond revenue and viewership, why do shows that everyone seems to hate tend to outlast so many others?
For many of their Original Series, Netflix’s viewership versus the cost of renewal model is the reason for cancellation before their final season. Netflix has three categories of viewership data they collect: “starters”: viewers who start or complete only the first episode, “completers”: viewers who complete the season, and “watchers”: the total number of viewers who consume the season. This data is collected on the seventh and twenty-eighth days of the month after the season drops, and compared with the cost of producing the next season. Factoring into this calculation, Netflix spends more money on each consecutive original series season. One of Netflix’s most successful series, Stranger Things, cost about 30 million dollars to produce season one. Its latest season cost that much every episode, totaling about 270 million dollars overall. Raising the stakes even more, Netflix drops entire seasons at once, spending money on producing a whole season rather than a pilot.
The easiest way to save your show is to garner mass attention, fast. If a show flops right after it is released, there may be no saving it. No matter how dedicated a fanbase is, many streaming services believe in a metaphorical “line” below which a show may not drop. The line represents a recognition and viewership amount that a show must clear to be considered for another season, an amount of revenue it must attract.
But why does Netflix spend so much on terrible television instead of keeping these supposedly better shows around? Oftentimes, these shows are cheaper and, despite being “bad,” have consistent watchers. They also profit off of people who watch the show despite thinking it is poor, self-proclaimed “hate watchers.” Additionally, Netflix isn’t always the studio behind these hated shows, like Riverdale, which is produced by The CW instead of Netflix. The system of father companies also often affects the availability of shows on Netflix, with sitcoms like The Office and Parks and Recreation switching to the streaming service affiliated with their producer.
The rise of streaming as consumers’ primary source of entertainment has changed the industry. Choices made by companies may appear dumb to individuals, while instead being the right path for the company. Streaming continues to change as Hollywood and technology evolves, but show cancellations at their root remain cut and dry.