You may care about your favorite new show being axed after only one season—as a matter of fact, you probably care a lot—but the streamers don't. At least 19 shows were canceled after a single season this year, according to a new report from TheWrap. (Somehow, that's actually down from at least 25 in 2023.) Not even shows like Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte, which by all metrics performed quite well, were spared. So… why?
Part of it has to do with a shift in tactics from streaming's early days, according to former NBC Studios president Tom Nunan. Companies, even those like Prime Video and Apple TV+ with seemingly unlimited resources, have "started to see that this shotgun approach of doing dozens, if not hundreds, of shows is unsustainable," he said. "We’re still seeing this clearing out of content that was once ordered rather a bit more casually than it was even two years ago before the strikes."
The other "dirty little secret," of the business, he suggested, is that "still the most robust numbers are coming in for their library, not for their new shows… So the new shows can come and go." That money is made from content licensing deals between streamers, like Prime Video's recent acquisition of Apple TV+'s entire library or HBO's decision to license shows like Insecure to Netflix or True Blood to Hulu. That brilliant and forward-thinking new series you were so excited to watch unfold? Yeah, it's still not nearly as important as the show that inspired it a decade ago.
So what can you do to fight for your favorite fledgling series? Those fan campaigns are nice, but haven't had much of an impact on the people who actually make the decisions. What does impact them is their bottom line. "If a monster streamer like Netflix chooses to cancel something that someone feels is a beloved show to them, but it’s an extremely niche audience and it’s not going to move the needle at all for subscriptions, they have that luxury because they’re so dominant right now," Nunan explained. While that state of affairs isn't likely to change any time soon, there's still "niche" content to be found on smaller streamers like Peacock and Paramount+ where audiences have a little more sway. You can also dive into the back catalog yourself with some one-season wonders from years past. Who knows—one of them might be the next big thing again soon.
