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Netflix Is Creating a Problem By Canceling TV Shows Too Soon
from the stop-the-madness dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Insider:
Netflix is killing its most interesting shows in their infancy and it could be the streaming giant's downfall. In the seven years that Netflix has produced original content, the world of TV streaming has dramatically changed. Now Netflix is getting left behind in the race it started. Many of its unique and ambitious shows have been canceled before they could reach their full potential. And Netflix keeps churning out more shows each year, without replicating the breakout success of 2016's "Stranger Things." 

Statements from executives have described the cancellations as the result of a cost analysis that tells Netflix a longer-running show won't lead to new subscribers. Still, with syndicated shows such as "The Office" and "Friends" leaving its platform and a string of disappointing cancellations, including "Glow," Netflix has set itself up for a disaster when it comes to its reputation as a TV-watcher's must-have service. In 2020 alone, Netflix has canceled 18 original series. Of those, 14 had only one season. [...] TV lovers in these fandoms can only be burned so many times before they stop investing. Why should a Netflix subscriber spend 10 hours watching a new show if there's a decent chance they'll never see it end?
Posted by BeauHD 2 hours ago

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This appears to be case of (+1)
Malays2 bowman a few seconds ago
Netflix not giving a shit about their existing user base and just trying to bring as many new customers in as possible.
I saw this same pattern with AOL back in the 90s when they were dumping free trial AOL disks into every mailbox they could find, all while ignoring the mountain of complaints from existing users about constant busy signals and shitty connections.
Whatever looks best on the spreadsheet I suppose.
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True (+2)
youngone 2 hours ago
They're not the only ones. I was very much looking forward the season 8 of The Venture Bros, but that has been cancelled too.
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Re: True (+1)
IdanceNmyCar 2 hours ago
As a huge cinema and cartoon fan, I cannot tell if you are joking? Does The Venture Bros have some long running continuity or unfinished storyline that needs to be concluded? I feel like the issue being outlined is how an epic series can be canceled which is very disappointing. A great example of this is "Firefly" which is why "Serenity" had to be produced, to help fill in the gaps that the fans were left with. Episodic series like Bojack Horseman seem like they can be canceled almost after any season without hurting "the story" and likewise many cartoons seem to rehash similar styles due to the very characteristics of the voice actors they use (e.g. "Rick and Morty" and "Solar Opposites").
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uh yes? 
Anonymous Coward an hour ago
Many many unresolved story points. They were in the midst of planning a season when the studio canceled it. If the studio had said, this is going to be the last season they could have wrapped a lot up.
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Re: True 
Anonymous Coward an hour ago
I agree that they are getting crazy with all the cancellations, but the other problem, which I consider even worse, is the lack of episodes. Not just Netflix but all of the streaming platforms.
Since when is a "season" only 10 episodes? Sometime only 8. Sometimes only 6. WTF? Fuck You. I'm not paying for that.
Everyone hates advertising, but it turns out that a platform based on subscriptions instead of advertising is even worse. This is confirmed by statements from Netflix: "executives have described the cancellations as the result of a cost analysis that tells Netflix a longer-running show won't lead to new subscribers."
TV lovers in these fandoms can only be burned so many times before they stop investing.
If only that was true. Sadly, there are enough stupid people to keep Netflix in business.
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Re: True (+1)
peragrin 43 minutes ago
Not really a season should be long enough to tell a story. Some can be shorter than others and the story can be open, but at least wrap up a few things. But at the same time netflix like the new hotness and next big idea and doesn't want to continue stories that am nd should keep going
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Re: True (+1)
spitzig 25 minutes ago
I like the shorter seasons. Less episodes tends to mean a more cohesive plot with less filler. So many network shows are mostly "monster of the week" episodes with a little character development or a little main plot development.
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True, but most deserved it (+1)
hcs_$reboot an hour ago
Most of the shows cancelled after only 1 season deserved it. Just look at IMDb ratings, a show below 8.0 is usually not that good (and shows are rated higher than movies). Obviously the 20% fans will protest but better use the money for something new.
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More (+1)
AutodidactLabrat 2 hours ago
Season 6, Lucifer, Season 4 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Season 2 of "I am not alright with this (shit). OUTRAGE!!
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So basically they're the WB. (+1)
dgatwood 2 hours ago
So basically, they're the WB. Good != popular. And most shows that are not pablum for the masses take a while to build up an audience.
At this point, with so many other content providers taking their toys and going home, most of what Netflix has going for it at this point are its original shows. If viewers feel like their time is being wasted with shows that get cancelled before they finish telling a story, a lot of potential viewers will wait to watch until the second season to see if it gets renewed, and at that point, it's all over, because nothing ever will be. And that's when subscriber numbers will start to fall off a cliff.
Netflix would be wise to plan father ahead require evidence of a certain level of quality story-wise before committing to a show at all, then commit to a longer run up front (perhaps three seasons), knowing that some of them might not be financially successful, but that the knowledge that the whole story will get told will avoid turning off would-be viewers before they get started.
And of course, if the show works well, they can always renew the contract for additional years. There's no reason to be silly and cancel everything reflexively after three seasons; that would make them Disney. :-)
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not a new problem (+2)
bloodhawk 2 hours ago
This is hardly isolated to netflix, all the networks and content producers do this. On the other hand many shows are allowed to continue on well past their used by date.
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Re: not a new problem (+2)
hey! an hour ago
The business model is kind of artistically broken. They need new subscribers, which is why they keep picking up cancelled shows from other networks; it brings in those shows' fans. Meanwhile canceling their own successful shows may piss of their existing subscribers, but as long as they don't cancel *all* the shows those subscribers have to watch on Netflix those subscribers aren't going to leave.
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Saying what we've known all along (+3, Insightful)
roc97007 2 hours ago
A longer running show won't lead to new subscribers perhaps, but cancelling too soon leads to losing the subscribers you already had.
This is a perfect example of corporate short term thinking. Obsessing on new business while assuming that the customers you already have will be with you forever. And then you find that's not true, but it's too late.
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Re: Saying what we've known all along (+1)
jmauro an hour ago
Due to inertia most people won't end up cancelling, but continually just automatically pay the monthly fee without realizing it. They're not likely to lose too many over a single cancelled show.
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Re: Saying what we've known all along (+2)
Way, Way Smarter! 42 minutes ago
A longer running show won't lead to new subscribers perhaps, but cancelling too soon leads to losing the subscribers you already had.
Exactly. Almost no new shows finish the storyline after one season, so why commit to watching a program unless you know that there will be more seasons when Netflix has a history of cancelling?
Long term, fewer views and fewer subscribers.
Perhaps Netflix should invest in mini-series. Series that wrap up the storyline after one season.
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Re: Saying what we've known all along (+2)
sg_oneill 37 minutes ago
I suspect the bigger danger is big name producers not wanting to commit to Netflix. If I'm developing a serious production with multiple big name stars attached, I'm going to be *very* nervous about signing up with netflix who might just cancel after a season or two automatically based on the subscriber thing, regardless of how popular the show was. Every time they prematturely cancel a show that hadnt been running into troubles, hundreds and possibly thousands of hollywood people are walking away with a chip on their shoulder about netflix, and this IS NOT a sustainable habit to get into.
Remember, the key point of netflxis's behavior here is not "how popular the show is" but "how many new subscribers are we converting". It might make sense for netflixes accounting department, but marketing and acquisitions ought be pretty nervous about the whole thing.
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Fact Check: True (-1)
Anonymous Coward 2 hours ago
The kind of consumer who watches soyflicks is very low IQ.
They need the repetition to understand very simple concepts. And even then, most remain clueless.
By pouring the same crap down the typical soyflix customer's throat, it keeps them happy and coming back for more!
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Altered Carbon (+1)
klipclop an hour ago
This was my favorite show, and they cancelled it. Hopefully they figure things out because if they only license old shows and produce reality tv, I think they will fail over the long run.
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Re: Altered Carbon (+1)
yooy an hour ago
Was my favorite show too. At least season 1. Season 2 was much worse than Season 1. I wonder why they changed the amazing main actor. Since S1 was more or less a finished story I can live with it.
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Re: Altered Carbon (+1)
Xenx an hour ago
The series is based on a series of book. I haven't read the books, but the 2nd series of the show is based off of the third book.. at least loosely. One of the first things I see in the plot summary was that he was in a new sleeve. So, at the very least the change in actors was based upon the books.
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Re: Altered Carbon (+1)
Spril an hour ago
The first season of Altered Carbon was an awesome science fiction mystery, and we binged it to death. The second season was a tiresome series of fights and we started fast-forwarding to find any plot, then gave up.
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Re: Altered Carbon (+1)
spitzig 29 minutes ago
I don't remember the plot of the books that well. But, that's basically why. Planet hopping always means getting a new body. Usually to bodies that are already available. Appearance is minor to soldiers compared to the combat abilities of the body-strength, speed, etc. Kovacs was really good at adapting, so his face was even less important than for the average person.
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Re: Altered Carbon (-1, Troll)
h33t l4x0r an hour ago
Season 1 had an asian guy, and season 2 had a black guy. There's just nowhere to go from there without angering groups of people. Maybe a puerto-rican guy, but let's face it, there won't be any of those in the future.
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Re: Altered Carbon (+1)
Anonymous Coward 32 minutes ago
Season 1 was a white sleeve, 2 was a black sleeve. The original Asian body was featured both seasons. Did you watch the show?
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Re: Altered Carbon (+1)
h33t l4x0r 2 minutes ago
Oh yeah I forgot about the white guy from robocop. So now we have a show that not only white-washes an asian character, it black-washes him as well.
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Re: Altered Carbon (+1)
bloodhawk 21 minutes ago
I loved season 1, season 2 was at best average and the direction was downhill, definitely a timely cancellation.
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Finish the story (+1)
alvian an hour ago
I wouldn't mind as much if they gave the creators a chance to wrap up the story with 2 or 3 episodes. It's disappointing when you invest your time following the story to be left without a resolution.
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Patience (+1)
bill_mcgonigle an hour ago
Maybe 15 years ago I decided to stop watching shows that never got a good ending. That's when Netflix's model (DVD at the time) made that viable. Stories with no ending just suck.
It turns out I had kids about the same time and certainly don't have time for shows, but if I did I would still follow this model.
That is - if you watch a show for a story. Some people watch shows because they don't have much else to talk about at work, but many fewer people here than average will fit that description.
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Re: Patience (+1)
EvilSS an hour ago
It's funny because Netflix was the reason a lot of TV shows got final seasons. Back when they were buying rights to 2nd run content from other studios, they wanted complete shows with a ending. After all, who wants to start a show on a streaming service knowing it ends on a cliffhanger and is never resolved? So producers bent over backwards to make sure their shows would get some sort of wrap up vs abruptly canceled to ensure they could market it to streaming services (namely Netflix at the time). Fast forward and now that Netflix is the producer and focused on first run exclusives, they have flipped their position and are doing exactly what they didn't want from other content providers.
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Re: Patience (+1)
Fly Swatter 34 minutes ago
The only reason netflix bought popular cancelled shows was to add those viewers to their customer base. It is all about money plain and simple. 

Now they have probably determined that pulling a show from under most people doesn't result in a canceled subscription, so expect more of the same.
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And why aren't they selling copies? (+1)
FaithfulNihilist an hour ago
After the Witcher was done, I was up for buying a copy. Don't have Netflix right now, but I'd have gladly paid an entire month or two subscription fee for a DRM-free copy. Why isn't that possible on their original content? After it's no longer immediately hot, open that stuff up to everyone on the outside and say "$15 buys you a copy of the whole season." Wouldn't even have to put it on disk.
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Enjoy It While You Can (+1)
WankerWeasel an hour ago
I can see that some have to have closure to the shows they watch, but it's not as if we get no pleasure from watching just the first season. There's no guarantee any show on any network will get a 2nd season. If you're only down for shows that run multiple seasons and have a final conclusion, your best bet is to not watch a show until it's had the entire run and is over.
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Re: Enjoy It While You Can (+1)
green1 32 minutes ago
Many years ago shows had self contained episodes, and you could enjoy a single episode, a bunch of episodes, or the whole season or series. Sure the good ones also had somewhat of a story arc across it all. but if you missed an episode or two, or there was no final conclusion, it didn't diminish the enjoyment of the individual episodes.
That ship has long sailed. Shows now are one indivisible story from first episode to last episode with no smaller self contained stories at all. If there's no resolution in the last episode, then there's no resolution of anything, at all. Honestly I get sick of that after about 1/4-1/2 of a season, but if you do want to watch that sort of show, there really needs to be a resolution at the end. Otherwise you might as well start borrowing books from the library with the last 30 pages ripped out. it's the same idea, who would willingly do that?
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Replace Netflix with Fox (+1)
bobstreo an hour ago
I mean seriously, they canned shows like Firefly and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
I have a long list of shows that were cancelled despite good or great ratings over many different channels.
I don't even bother vesting any effort in shows anymore, unless there are either more than 2 seasons, or there is a "planned" ending.
On the other hand, CW seems interesting in milking dead/decomposing cows for their shows.
And thanks Netflix for Longmire (FU A&E) and Lucifer extra seasons.
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Long tail (+1)
srwood an hour ago
Apparently they haven't read The Long Tail
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Anime (+1)
The Evil Atheist an hour ago
I don't see a problem. The Japanese anime industry does pretty well, and we even get a lot of creativity due to shows traditionally only getting one season.
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Shasta McNasty cancelled after one year (+1)
jmcbain an hour ago
I'm still upset that UPN cancelled Shasta McNasty after only one year.
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What about "existing subscribers"? (+1)
Nahor an hour ago
I don't get the obsession with "new subscribers", what about "existing subscribers"? It's not like Netflix is a "one-time fee", existing subscribers are also a revenue stream for Netflix. Keep cancelling shows, and given that the shows from other networks keep getting removed, then soon those existing customers will leave too!
And that's not the only blinder that they have. I would think some people would subscribe because they have access to plenty of complete shows, not just that one "breakout show". If they rely on one show, what's to keep the users after that show is done?
And what about people who are interested in complete shows? Myself, I'm not likely to watch a show if I know it doesn't finish.
It feels like Netflix is becoming more and more like all those other companies, only focused on unicorn products and short term benefits, completely ignoring the long term benefits of a strong and loyal userbase.
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Re: What about "existing subscribers"? (+2)
BeerFartMoron an hour ago
Quarterly growth: the only metric that matters to stakeholders.
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Re: What about "existing subscribers"? (+1)
DavenH 6 minutes ago
I think you'll find they care about future outlook a great deal more.
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Re: What about "existing subscribers"? (+1)
bloodhawk 13 minutes ago
Costs are constantly rising, especially with the bullshit the studios have all pulled with exclusive licensing contracts which means to remain viable a company has to maintain growth. Netflix is really going to struggle with cost vs income in coming years.
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Sorry, but analysis is wrong (+1)
SuperKendall an hour ago
Look, I am a big fan of The OA but I could see why it was canceled. It simply is not for everyone (even more so than a lot of "not for everyone" shows). It was never going to be another Stranger Things...
Not every show has to be the next big hit, Netflix has carried shows beyond two seasons that a lot of people really liked (like 3% or Nailed It). While not a massive hit, they already have a good showing with some new shows like The Witcher or The Umbrella Academy.
Look around, what other networks are really faring even as well as Netflix at producing a number of interesting series? With Game of Thrones gone, HBO has not nearly the draw it once did - there I also like "Raised By Wolves" but I don't think it's a show with really huge appeal the way Game of Thrones or Stranger things have.
Netflix knows as well as anyone they need a range of shows long term to keep up a subscriber base, and I think they've done about as well as can be expected.
The whole article basically was written because the writer was super put off that Glow was cancelled, as far as I could tell..
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Re: Sorry, but analysis is wrong (+1)
idontusenumbers 38 minutes ago
I didn't even know The OA existed. I started after it was canceled, not realizing it.
This practice is just going to leave people avoiding netflix shows for multiple seasons just to make sure they aren't canceled and then ratings will plummet.
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Don't see it (+1)
SuperKendall a minute ago
This practice is just going to leave people avoiding netflix shows for multiple seasons just to make sure they aren't canceled
The thing is, not every show is cancelled early. Netflix has a number of good shows that are being carried forward.
The OA, like I said I really liked it - but honestly I am OK with it being done after two seasons. Sure you can point at that and say "Well Netflix should have made more episodes".
But what it ignores is, what other streaming platform is even MAKING something as far out as The OA? Or even The Dark Crystal for that matter. I feel kind of bad on that one as I really like the original movie and want to support puppeteering... but man if even I could never get up the drive to watch that series, who was? As sad as that is to see cancelled, it simply didn't have a draw and was probably very expensive to boot. But still, the fact remains that Netflix did make that, and none of the other streaming platforms even tried.
The reason I still subscribe to Netflix is because, over time, they are really lots better than any other streaming platform so far at producing new and interesting content with a lot of variety. It is that variety that is lost in analysis like this because they look at a handful of shows and see failure when some are canceled, while ignoring a much vaster spectrum of shows that keeps people watching and keeps them subscribed. An OA subscriber might be sad that show is gone, but then they fine The Floor Is Lava or Hyperdrive and the sting is not so bad.
People who would be inclined to leave because the OA is cancelled, stay because any moment now another OA might drop. Seriously, where you gonna go - HBO? Amazon? Peacock? Don't make me laugh.
Another whole vector that is REALLY being ignored here because Slashdot is so U.S. centric is that Netflix is utterly crushing it with international targeted shows. Beastmaster, Dark, 3%, Netflix is producing great native language/producer content that I don't think ANY other streaming service is even doing at all. Netflix is maybe years ahead of any other streaming service in terms of a solid international set of shows? 3% in particular, is really good.
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TV shows always get cancelled at the drop of a hat (+1)
rsilvergun 42 minutes ago
that's nothing new. If they suddenly pick up NF can just start running them again or reboot them. 

Netflix's problem is they haven't had a big, industry defining, hit. And they don't have the benefit of a captive audience like the networks have in the form of OTA TV watchers (or the decades of shows, money and branding built up from the 60s, 70s and 80s when there were only a handful of channels to watch).
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Good (+1)
quenda 39 minutes ago
"Always leave them wanting more"
Better ten new shows than one more season of Big Bang Theory, for the same cost.
How many American shows keep going long after jumping the shark?
There should be a 4-season limit. But Game of Thrones will now be remembered for its awful final Season.
And need I even mention House of Cards ? The Princess Bride is now forever tainted.
(The excellent original UK House of Cards was 3 "seasons" of 4 parts each. )
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Maybe micropayments (+1)
John.Banister 34 minutes ago
I was trying to think what a streaming provider could do to be happy with the revenue while having happy customers. Maybe micropayments. Have a lower lower monthly fee and pay per view micropayments. Then, fan loyalty would translate to income for the series. Additionally, this could admit the possibility of outside investors in a series and the investors could try different strategies, like a lower price for the first season and an outrageous price for watching a new season during the first month of release. This would be kind of like how it's done with a lot of book series on Amazon.
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What? (+1)
backslashdot 9 minutes ago
Just because you liked a show doesnâ(TM)t mean it had potential. You donâ(TM)t know what statistics and costs Netflix had.
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What they're not understanding (+1)
nehumanuscrede 9 minutes ago
With the current trend of cancelling seasons, folks like myself will eventually decide that it's not worth my time to even begin a series since the odds of it being cancelled before the story finishes are high.
It's akin to being handed a book with the last chapters ripped out and being puzzled about why I won't even start it. :|
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