Lately, it’s seemed as though Netflix is cancelling shows on a daily basis. From fan favorites such as “Mindhunter,” whose season third season is currently hanging in the balance, to “Patriot Act,” as well as ” The Society” and “I Am Not Okay With This,” the streaming giant seems to been purging its platform, this year especially.
According to Deadline, however, Netflix’s global head of TV Bela Bajaria defended the platform during the Paley International Council Summit. Bajaria argued that the streamer doesn’t cancel content at a rate higher than any other platform. Instead, the service is under a microscope so any small move seems like a big deal.
“If you look at season twos and more, we actually have a renewal rate of 67 percent, which is industry standard. We also do make a large amount of first season shows, which sometimes feels that we have more first season cancellations but if you look at the renewal rate it’s really strong,” Bajaria stated.
“I also think you have to look at ‘The Crown’, with season four launching now, ‘Grace & Frankie’ and ‘The Ranch,’ we’ve had long running shows and we’re always going to have a mix that are great to be told in a limited series form and shows that go on for multiple seasons.”
Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos also argued that the streamer is a new technology being judged by the old industry method. “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,” he stated.
“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.”
Regardless of what shows have gone and what shows have stayed, Netflix has continued to amass subscribers. The company announced they reached 195.15 million subscribers in Q3 2020. However, the company added just 2.2 million this quarter (compared to 6.8 million in the same quarter last year), as a result of what they says is “our record first half result and the pull-toward effect.”