The world of streaming looks like a warzone these days. Fans don’t know when their favourite tv show or movie will get axed or removed from their subscribed streaming platforms. Prominent entertainment studios or companies have adopted a new trend of cancelling finished tv shows and features before their release or burying the existing projects. It is all happening as entertainment companies across the globe are preparing themselves to tackle a possible global recession, inflation, and consolidation. In addition, boosting the number of subscribers or maintaining their figures has become difficult for streaming services worldwide.
The year 2022 brought about significant changes for popular streaming services with its arrival. Netflix came up with an ad-supported tier and additional gaming services, Bob Iger returned to the post of CEO for Walt Disney, David Zaslav, Warner Bros Discovery CEO, buried several already completed and renewed projects, and many more.
Netflix’s Glass Onion director, Rian Johnson, opened up about the ongoing cancellation trend in his recent talk with The Hollywood Reporter:
“It’s been horrifying. The fact that it’s becoming common practice is terrible and adds to the awfulness. In the history of the business, there has been a constant evolution of horrible things.”
HBO Max has undergone many significant changes under Zaslav’s new WBD regime. Once an HBO gem, Westworld, is now a shelved product, despite needing one more season to reach its conclusion. The popular comedy series, Minx, has also been axed despite being renewed for a second season.
Netflix has built a globally notorious image for cancelling many fan-favourite or critically acclaimed projects. The streaming giant’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, responded to this matter:
“It seems like in this new age of television, the business model is a little different. The things that marked success prior to Netflix and OTT really had been getting to syndication, that was the goal and anything that didn’t get to 100 episodes or past the four seasons didn’t feel like a success, whereas I think many shows can be a success for being exactly what they are and you could tell that story in two seasons or one season or five seasons. I think it gets talked about so much because it’s measured against the old way of doing things.”
Apple TV+ hoped to reap humungous benefits from Will Smith’s Emancipation but failed. Yes, upcoming releases like Ridley Scott’s Napoleon and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon may provide some sustainability to the streaming service’s ongoing run of success. But its future looks uncertain.
Apart from flagship projects, it seems like shows that are capable of developing a huge global fan following from their very first seasons are safe on prominent streaming platforms. Netflix’s Wednesday is the epitome of this scenario. As for the remaining projects, things are going to get harder for them in future.
Subscribers all around the world are displaying their outrages on social media about the ongoing cancellation trend. Streaming platforms must understand that viewers are their topmost priority. Pissing them off will lead them towards ‘loss of subscribers’. Not every show generates a monstrous fan following right from its first episode. Breaking Bad’s first season was good but not great. It started to soar after its sophomore entry. And now, it is considered a masterpiece among viewers. Stay tuned for more updates.