I'm beginning to dislike Netflix (re: Archive 81, 1899, Warrior Nun etc cancellations)

[Mercurius]

For this reason, mainly:

Netflix Has Created A Self-Fulfilling Cancelation Loop With Its New Shows

A couple weeks ago, I remarked that Netflix now felt like it was “actively stealing time from me.” I can almost not even remember which cancelation I was talking about at the time, given that there have been so many, but I believe it was 1899

www.forbes.com

For me it started with the cancellation of Archive 81, a show I really liked but they cancelled after a single season. Thankfully it was relatively self-contained. But then it happened with 1899 from the creators of Dark, a series I adored. I hadn't watched 1899 yet because, like the most recent season of Entrapped, I was saving it up, enjoying having something I know I'll like in the queue. But evidently 1899 ended on a cliffhanger, so now I'm not even going to bother.

And now it is Warrior Nun, a show I only watched half an episode of and decided wasn't my cuppa, but is causing a Twitter furor. So while I'm not disappointed in its cancellation, I commiserate with fans who are.

So basically we're left with the phenomena of Netflix only renewing series that are not only popular, but popular very quickly. A high concept series like 1899 needs time to build an audience - it will never be an instant hit. I'm a good example of this: I didn't watch Dark until last year (2022), and then consumed all three seasons in the course of a couple months.

I am reminded of what happened to mid-list authors in the publishing world. Basically big publishers will only give offers to bestsellers (or close to bestsellers) and new authors, and then for new authors the clock is ticking, with about a three book window to see if they can establish a sizable audience. Mid-listers either have to find smaller publishers or self-publish.

The end result is a dumbing down and homogenization. There's still some range of diversity, of course, but not nearly as much as there could be, if profit margins were a bit more lenient (meaning, shows like 1899 probably still generate profit, just not as much as Netflix requires to continue).

Anyhow, mostly venting...

 

[payn]

Didnt know that about Archive 81 total bummer. Im with you that Netflix seems to be having less and less stuff I want to watch these days.

 

[JThursby]

Netflix has been shedding properties that I would be interested in watching. DS9 leaving Netflix for good was really the final straw for me.

 

[gamerprinter]

I canceled my account last February when they were raising rates and at the same time that thousands of others stopped using Netflix. I was only watching maybe one movie per month, so it was never worth it, due to my lack of using it. But then they became caustic with some of their releases, and I didn't want to support that...

 

[JAMUMU]

I've likened watching modern Netflix to ouroboros swallowing its own tail. The whole service seems to be an example of Pop Will Eat Itself, and the same thing seems to be happening with HBO in the States. Nowadays if Netflix are making something I a) take it with a pinch of hemlock and b) refuse to get attached until I know whether it's gunna get cancelled or not.

 

[Haplo781]

For this reason, mainly:

Netflix Has Created A Self-Fulfilling Cancelation Loop With Its New Shows

A couple weeks ago, I remarked that Netflix now felt like it was “actively stealing time from me.” I can almost not even remember which cancelation I was talking about at the time, given that there have been so many, but I believe it was 1899

www.forbes.com

For me it started with the cancellation of Archive 81, a show I really liked but they cancelled after a single season. Thankfully it was relatively self-contained. But then it happened with 1899 from the creators of Dark, a series I adored. I hadn't watched 1899 yet because, like the most recent season of Entrapped, I was saving it up, enjoying having something I know I'll like in the queue. But evidently 1899 ended on a cliffhanger, so now I'm not even going to bother.

And now it is Warrior Nun, a show I only watched half an episode of and decided wasn't my cuppa, but is causing a Twitter furor. So while I'm not disappointed in its cancellation, I commiserate with fans who are.

So basically we're left with the phenomena of Netflix only renewing series that are not only popular, but popular very quickly. A high concept series like 1899 needs time to build an audience - it will never be an instant hit. I'm a good example of this: I didn't watch Dark until last year (2022), and then consumed all three seasons in the course of a couple months.

I am reminded of what happened to mid-list authors in the publishing world. Basically big publishers will only give offers to bestsellers (or close to bestsellers) and new authors, and then for new authors the clock is ticking, with about a three book window to see if they can establish a sizable audience. Mid-listers either have to find smaller publishers or self-publish.

The end result is a dumbing down and homogenization. There's still some range of diversity, of course, but not nearly as much as there could be, if profit margins were a bit more lenient (meaning, shows like 1899 probably still generate profit, just not as much as Netflix requires to continue).

Anyhow, mostly venting...

Netflix doesn't care how many people are watching a show, only how many new subscribers tune in.

New meaning the account is like, a week old or less. It's a ridiculous business model.

 

[Ryujin]

They also killed off "The Imperfects", shortly after it was released. That was a gut-punch for me, because I really enjoyed it.

 

[Umbran]

DS9 leaving Netflix for good was really the final straw for me.

You realize that's likely not in their control? If Paramount wants to have Trek content on their own service to draw viewers, there's no much Netflix can do about it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

We're in the end stage of the streaming wars, where all of the super-expensive content (driven up in cost by everyone wanting a full channel of their own, full of their own content), loss-leader subscription pricing and people getting the heck out of their houses to do something other than watching streaming content is crashing together. (Bonus: Leveraged buyout for HBO means Discovery has to cut even further than everyone else.)

Any show or movie that doesn't make a huge profit is gone. That means a lot of the idiosyncratic stuff is particularly in trouble. This is what the end of a golden age feels like.

The good-ish news is that one or more players are likely to quit the field in the next 18 months, meaning that content costs will go down and the remaining streaming channels will likely pick up a bunch of now-available content. Separately, Disney is also apparently going to finally merge Disney+ and Hulu, which already share content everywhere outside the US. So by 2025, there will be fewer subscriptions to juggle, and they should have more content, although they're likely to be more mainstream-friendly offerings and be higher in price.

 

[payn]

We're in the end stage of the streaming wars, where all of the super-expensive content (driven up in cost by everyone wanting a full channel of their own, full of their own content), loss-leader subscription pricing and people getting the heck out of their houses to do something other than watching streaming content is crashing together. (Bonus: Leveraged buyout for HBO means Discovery has to cut even further than everyone else.)

Any show or movie that doesn't make a huge profit is gone. That means a lot of the idiosyncratic stuff is particularly in trouble. This is what the end of a golden age feels like.

The good-ish news is that one or more players are likely to quit the field in the next 18 months, meaning that content costs will go down and the remaining streaming channels will likely pick up a bunch of now-available content. Separately, Disney is also apparently going to finally merge Disney+ and Hulu, which already share content everywhere outside the US. So by 2025, there will be fewer subscriptions to juggle, and they should have more content, although they're likely to be more mainstream-friendly offerings and be higher in price.

Get ready to patch that cord lol.