As we all know, Breaking Bad is one of if not the most critically acclaimed series in the history of television, but it actually didn't get most of its audience until the 5th and final season. It's actually insane that something like that might NEVER happen again. We might have all watched the next Breaking Bad and not even known it.
Great video! When it comes to 1899, it really feels like an exec wanted this show axed from the start. We waited 4 years for it to be made, for it to be released during the busiest time of the year (During FIFA world cup, between The Crown and Wednesday and mid-holiday season). Netflix cancelled the show after 28 days. They are giving shows literally no time to find their audience before cancelling. Their view on what is successful is plain delusional.
The problem I have with Netflix’s approach, not all shows get their audience within days of it airing. Sometimes it takes a bit after the season has come out before people embrace it. It’s also probably why dumping the whole season on day one, doesn’t help. A 8 episode season spread out after 8 weeks has a better chance of finding and keeping an audience, than just dumping it day one and hoping for the best.
It definitely takes a few days sometimes for people to even discover the shows existence Because not, everybody knows when the shows are coming out especially if it’s new Because how am I supposed to know that Netflix is dropping a brand new cartoon that I never heard of or heard anybody talking about? And they don’t even advertise it. How am I supposed to know about it? Like they should be giving the shows a few months to figure out if it’s popular Imagine if Netflix cancelled Bojack horseman season one just because it wasn’t popular They gave it a second chance because they gave the Showtime to find itself because they weren’t all filled with greed back then Now If a show isn’t worldwide cultural phenomenon, they don’t want anything to do with it And for some reason Netflix has like I don’t session with cancelling cartoons that are popular with people who just put the cartoons on in the background Because we do have a lot to your metrics because we finish the show probably at least once a day
Not to mention the fact that every time they drop a show, they literally did zero advertising Like recently, they came out with a new cartoon called good times I didn’t even know it was in production or even gonna be coming out because Netflix didn’t advertise anything and I’m somebody who’s seen every single adult cartoon under the sun name an adult cartoon that has come out in the past few years I’ve seen it I seen every season of Family Guy, multiple times I need more Contant If you’re wondering who the people are watching all of these adult cartoons. It’s the kind of people like me that spend most of their day watching the cartoon. And when we’re not watching the cartoon, we have it playing on the back in the background
I was discussing this with my dad, but it's so good to see actual data and evidence about this. Also, I think this highlights how complicated the writer's and actor's strike is at the moment. Netflix and now other streaming services have absolutely changed how TV makes their profit. They get it by subscription, which means that another aspect they have to aim for is variety, though I don't think it's working out as well as it should be. But, all of this means that actors can't be paid for re-runs, or streams, since Netflix and other services don't make their money on streams. I hope a way to resolve all this is on the way, but it won't be as simple as raising the wage for actors.
Great point at the end that I think often gets overlooked. Lots of people watch shows years after they’re released, and if you give a series time to develop and be good and finish its story, people will come back to watch it. People are probably even more likely to subscribe for the first time to watch an older show they’ve heard is good than they are to risk a subscription on something new and untested. But if your library is full of loose ends (and if you become known for having a library full of loose ends) your reputation will decline and you won’t have any shows for people to come back to. Really sad and I hope they change tack on this issue in the coming years.
You keep this up, my man, and you'll have subscribers in the 6 figures in no time. You're already well-edited and polished, both in script and stylistically. Well done.
Great video, thank you! I literally went through this just last night - was browsing my renewed Netlfix subscription, watched a show I enjoyed and realized it had been canceled when I was at the "final" episode, 24 episodes in. 24 episodes is too much of a time investment for me to end up disappointed at the end, and I had decided to specifically avoid watching any new Netflix originals as a result. I hope this video blows up and that Netflix will change their policies at some point, because they're digging their entire brand into a hole of disappointment
What a great video, with a balanced of the "whys" and, refreshingly, a good amount of empathy (which is very lacking in many videos about cancelled niche shows). I also thought your solution was pretty fair to those involved in all sides. The only thing I thought was missing was a bit more of Netflix's global reach and how it affects their shows, I'm not sure if, for this topic, data limited to Europe (Digital i) is as elucidating nowadays as it was a few years ago. Again, great video, I'm watching all your other videos now!
Hidden Gem of a channel. I just watched your Social Network video on how editing was used and now this one, your content is really entertaining! and I'm definitely going to check out the rest
WOW!! SO INSIGHTFUL AND INFORMATIVE! You're like the Steve Kornacki of tv/movie insider info. It's a wonder anything new ever gets made. Thanks, Jack!!
Good clear analysis of this issue. I like how you got to the point and used diagrams to illustrate your point. I've watched a few seasons of several shows which were great, only to realise they'd been cancelled. It's v disappointing. It seems to happen to most of the creative, interesting shows. One reason I like watching Star Trek is that it's difficult to run out of episodes, so it's sort of comforting to watch knowing you can go on a journey with the characters. It's a shame that Netflix only really values profit over everything else. I wonder if they'll eventually change this model if enough unhappy customers leave the platform.
Imagine if they did the same with movies. It's not doing so well so we're gonna pull it from the theatre's. I fucking hate them for pulling the plug so soon. I'm watching Lockwood&co for the 4th time now.
I always thought when the show is popular and everyone who sees it it enjoys it and that is usually a sign that it’s going to at least get a season two and then if it keeps the same level of viewership, it gets a season three if it loses viewers, it gets cancelled But now, like every show, have to be an instant overnight sensation or it’s not worth being renewed apparently
At this point, I’m starting to think that Netflix is just straight up, allergic to money and get business choices Because I understand cancel the show that is a complete flop But for some reason, Netflix has this obsession with cancelling shows that are pretty good that have a massive following just to give more money to shows that nobody is asking for Or make brand new shows that nobody likes instead of giving money to these companies that have already established themselves and created a fan base with in one season They decide to cancel that show and create a brand new show that nobody is familiar with and then they hope and pray it’s an instant sensation Netflix his business practice of the past years is throw it at the wall and hope it sticks And sometimes it shit and sometimes it does stick Like, for instance, money, heist, Bojack horseman, stranger things they just threw something at the wall, took a chance and it stuck money heist was originally supposed to be one season. They turned it into five parts. Because Netflix bought it and gave it to the world Because if it wasn’t for Netflix money heist would’ve just been an exclusive Spanish TV show because Netflix brought it to their platform. Money highest is a five parts cultural phenomenon And they could’ve been donated give it up on it because it didn’t do well in Spain But they took a chance, and that chance paid off, so why can’t they take more chances with popular cartoons? Because you should not expect popular cartoons to be on the exact same level as a well written, dramatic story But for some reason, Netflix is comparing shows like money heist Wednesday you and Stranger Things The reason why those popular shows do so well is because they hit a large multiple part of demographics, but cartoons are usually only one kind of demographics of Netflix either needs to stop making cartoons all together in focus on dramatic things or maybe start giving cartoons a chance I’m talking about comedy cartoons because sometimes we just wanna sit back relax not think and laugh about stupid shit
One of the best solutions is try do more a one season only a 18 to 25 episode . Why because nobody can predict if the tv series is flop or hit. So even the series has low ratings . The series still finish and every fan base still happy.
I understand Netflix can’t spend a massive budget on multiple shows so you give a show a small budget for a season one if they’re successful give them a little bit more and if they’re continue to be successful, you give them a little bit more it’s a basic work, girl employee interaction the better you do the better you get paid and if you give them more opportunities to do better, they will deliver you give every first season of standard certain amount of money and if they want a second season, they have to prove themselves and then they get a bigger budget after the people like the show But it seems like we’re just turning out shows not because people like them because they just want to make it as many shows possible for the company in the investors and just keep that money rolling I feel like the entertainment business doesn’t care about entertainment they only care about making as much money as possible and trying to squeeze as much money out of investors
Isn’t there also that contract between Netflix and the large US movie making unions? The unions used to get a cut from DVD sales, so when Netflix introduced the DVD-less model, they negotiated a new agreement. That agreement said that after I think two years on their service, the union is entitled to cuts from viewership. So if a show cannot pull its weight, it’s cut and deleted from the platform so they don’t have to pay the union. Anyways, just sth I read a while back - can’t remember where. Apparently that window lines up with the “shows getting cut after 2 seasons” cliché
Thank you so much for including Lockwood and Co. The Fandom is still actively fighting to save the show. Click the website link in our bio to sign our petition.
One problem with Netflix it’s the fact that everything has to be a super over complicated convoluted multiple hidden plotlines stories Because instead of focussing on things that make people feel good in life and have fun, they focus on things that confuse people and most people turn away because it’s boring, but they’re not going to compare the statistics Because there’s tons of shows that are live action that were really good in season one and season two flopped but they continue to make more seasons Like, for example 13 reasons why when it first came out, it was a sensational. Everyone is talking about it now nobody cares about it. No one really cares that they have four seasons It’s not like Stranger Things, where it’s a but for some reason I keep giving at four seasons, because the first season was successful Like Netflix needs to get their shit together because it seems like they don’t even know what’s going on their platform Because the way that they judge metrics is absurd cause a show is not good based on how many people finished watching it shows good based on what people are saying all of it online
So my understanding of how Netflix judges show his quality is the best way to get a successful show on Netflix is create a mediocre piece of garbage that barely any people like and the people who do you like mediocre garbage will watch the entire thing Because it doesn’t matter, if a show is good, or not as long as 50% of people finish it And if that’s the case for Netflix, I really hope that other companies aren’t doing that because why horrible shows like Velma was being considered for a second season But good shows on Netflix, like Captain fall get cancelled because they didn’t get enough people to start watching it initially because it was a completely new show and it takes time for people to warm up to new characters Because personally, I can say I didn’t like some shows on Netflix like farzar But I gave it a second chance and enjoyed it. It wasn’t a masterpiece. It was just a stupid show that you laugh at. It would’ve been nice to get a second season But I understand that I won’t get a second season of it because it wasn’t that good of a show But why do I not get a third season of inside job when it was literally the hit show when it came out and currently it is the highest rated Netflix cartoon
Too bad Netflix CEOs and board directors aren’t too far up their ass to listen to somebody on RU-vid giving constructive reasons why what they’re doing is bad for their business
I swear Netflix believe if a show is an instant sensation it’s not worth the money And I fear the new show delicious in dungeon because it’s not consistently making top 10 because they’re a lot more well-known animes that people will continue watching instead of trying something new But it’s really good show but they’re probably gonna cancel it because it’s not sensational Netflix needs to learn not every show is a Stranger Things and judging a quality of a show based on arbitrary metrics like how many people finished watching the entire series is crazy They literally are created a program that the longer the show goes the less likely someone has to finish the show they’re creating a way for people to be set up for failure Because instead of putting in one show with 10 seasons, make 10 different shows with one season each I Netflix says if it doesn’t make it to the top 10 and stay there for a couple of weeks you weren’t worth my time The Board of Directors at Netflix need to get in touch with reality and realize that not every single show in existence is Stranger Things and if you keep trying to make every show Stranger Things eventually you’re not gonna have any shows at all because they’re going to have so little Contant in so much shitty Contant that they can afford to license out new contact in they’ll be forced to sell the company to somewhere else Netflix making all the poor decisions in business
Maybe the reason why all these really good shows don’t make Netflix is metric standards is because they don’t give it time to meet the standards and also they don’t do any advertising. They literally only advertise their shows on there product. How do I know there’s a brand new show coming out on Netflix if you don’t advertise it on other sites Or run advertising campaigns through movie review and show critics Like they do no advertising, they think that they can just basically cut costs around every corner by removing all metrics of critics and determining how a show is good based on peoples views versus an arbitrary thing of if enough people finished watching it that means it’s a good show You know that there’s some people who like to enjoy a show, so they will only watch like one episode every now and then Do you know that there are some people who take an entire year to watch a show? Because they want the experience to last longer But Netflix doesn’t care about those people in Netflix doesn’t care about people who watch the show multiple times with multiple people, but don’t finish it because they can’t always set up movie tonight And how long did the judge the statistics of a show is popular one month because I swear if a show is in a sensation in one month Netflix is like you know what we want nothing to do with it, but every single classic movie that they get their hands on is always top 10 but every new series doesn’t even make it 10 There’s a reason why older shows are constantly operated because all the newer shows suck, and for some reason they have an obsession with giving the crappy shows more and good shows less
We have never cancelled a successful show is a big ass fucking lie. I can name one show that a successful that Netflix refuses to bring back, even though it’s the highest rated adult cartoon Inside job We shouldn’t be determining the quality of the TV show based on arbitrary metrics. We should be turning a quality of the TV show based on critic reviews because if critics are telling you that the show is positive people will go watch it if critics are telling you the show is bad people will not watch it. That’s what happens when you have honest criticism The only way Netflix can truly recover their understanding of what is popular is if they create a Netflix critic board that is ran by the users where it’s like Twitter where everybody can discuss their favourite Netflix show and each show has its own little community. Let people can talk about the show and be excited for the next season. Because if you can centralize and understand the hype, you will truly know how good your shows are instead of judging by arbitrary metrics Because if the show is really popular because I route, lotta people wanna watch it but then a lot of people who thought it was something else dropped it because it’s not there a cup of tea suddenly it’s a bad show and everybody enjoyed. It doesn’t get any more seasons. Like I understand if a long running show with a constant metric of 70% watch through and then your newest season only like 40% of your fans watch through it. Yeah that’s a time to move on to something new and that’s exactly what walking dead did they noticed the last few seasons of the show with starting to lose yours instead of cancelling the show out right and just finishing The Walking Dead franchise, they broke off into other sectors. And right now the ones who live is literally the most popular The Walking Dead show It literally brought back a lot of the OG fans who left after the bridge incident Because personally after Andrew Lincoln left The Walking Dead, the show didn’t feel the same And that’s why they’re viewership lost count And instead of cancelling the show, they redirected it into a direction that people enjoyed by bringing back Andrew Lincoln Instead of just cancelling a show outright and not giving them a chance if it is moderately successful in the first season game is the second season if they’re pretty successful, the second season given third season Because success shouldn’t directly mean that they get another season, but that doesn’t matter you can literally have a hit TV show that is popular in all of Canada but because 50% of the people who watched it didn’t finish it. It’s suddenly a horrible show, even though it was a hit show in Canada.
Huh, that's fascinating! Though my guess will be that it's being saved by a different network; I struggle to think that of a time when a network rolled back its own cancellation. When it comes to saving shows, I think the fanbase and critical reception *are* the primary factor, because networks want to capture a show's hype as a way to promote their own service. Netflix has done that very thing with shows like Arrested Development, Designated Survivor, and Lucifer
@@cutting-concepts That is entirely true. But what happened was Simon Berry basically said “15 million #SaveWarriorNun tweets and they’d renew it.” Not sure if it’s still Netflix but he confirmed at around 11:00 my time (West Coast) that it’ll be coming back and he’ll hand out more information soon.
How much longer until Netflix start charging you per season like every show you get the first season for free but if you want to watch the second one you have to pay for Netflix premium Like, when will we draw the line because it seems like it doesn’t matter if we stop paying with our wallets, and somehow they still have all these power
If inside job is so bad and didn’t deserve a season three why the hell is it the most liked cartoon on all of Netflix Why does it constantly sneak its way into the top 10? If it was so bad I will constantly watch inside out day and day out the entire series every day until they give me fucking season three because if watching the entire season is with the need for the metrics, I’ll do it And what about Captain fall a show that they literally only gave one season last year, and decided to bail on it with a cliffhanger
Amazing video the only concern I have is the diagram; You choose a 4 axis, but in fact, you have only 2 variables Amount of viewership (from Niche to Mass Appeal) and cost of production (Cheal to high budget) then you should portray that on a 2 axis
Thanks! You're correct-my intent was to label the quadrants, not the axes, but I see how it doesn't necessarily come off that way. Apologies for any confusion!
So, if Netflix determines a shows quality based on completion rate, I can have a successful TV show if I only release it in a remote country that nobody will watch it because they don’t have Internet to watch it So only like six people from that country, watch it because only three of them finish watching it. That means it was a successful show equal to Stranger Things Because judging is shows metrics by percentages, saying that we don’t care how many people we walk, we actually want less people to watch. It just means more people watch the entire thing.
The only reason squid game is low cost is because Netflix isn’t. The one who came up with the idea or produced it. They just bought the the licensing rights from the South Korean film company that produced squid games Of course, squid games didn’t cost Netflix that much. It was a cultural phenomenon worldwide thing that they didn’t need to pay for the initial investment. The only thing they need to pay for the licensing So, of course, squid games was a high user low cost But not every show is going to be like squid games and just fall into your lap Sing with money heist initially, money heist was a low cost hi user account But by the end of the show it became a high cost. Hi user account.
If you want to keep a sustainable user base on your platform, create your own version of family, Guy, and keep the show running instead of cancelling it every couple of seasons, and then coming out with a new version of that is just slightly different characters because we have Brickleberry Paradise PD in farzar They’re all basically the exact same show with small differences and you keep fucking cancelling it The only thing I can say is props to the writers for keep on doing what people like instead of changing up the show to the point where nobody wants to watch it Because the only reason people watch Brickleberry, Paradise, PD, and farzar it’s because of the dumb, unexpected comedy. You can watch the show a bunch of times you will still life at the stupid jokes because they’re fucking stupid because sometimes you just need to take yourself not seriously and laugh at something at fucking stupid.
It worries me that big mouth is their most successful show that they keep putting out there because a bunch of kids going through puberty in an adult themes. Seems like it’s going to attract the wrong kind of people because it seems like it’s designed for teenagers but the people who watch it is adults because when I saw animated versions of child cartoon nudity, I felt very uncomfortable and I’m pretty sure that’s the reason why they’re the most popular one because they’re demographic is probably creeps in weirdos That’s why I like human resources better than big mouth because it has the comedic style of big mouth without the worry of child nudity because you would think watching a cartoon. You didn’t need to worry about there being a scene where they depict a young girls, vagina, talking to her . Like how the hell is big mouth still successful after that season?
So if I want Netflix to actually pay attention to a good show, do I have to make hundreds of bought accounts that are brand new accounts to constantly be watching the exact same show to make it look like a show is good Because the only thing stopping me from creating multiple accounts is credit cards and I know how to get multiple credit card numbers, prepaid gift card I just sign up for hundreds of one month, free subscriptions and binge the exact same show and suddenly it’s popular They’re literally setting it up for people to artificially inflated the view count at least those who are smart enough
I'm still not sure I understand the AVS/efficiency score thing. So Inside had almost as many "adjusted views" as Sticks and Stones, but its efficiency score is significantly higher. And that's... a bad thing? Meanwhile, you mention that Squid Game had an even higher efficiency score (in the 40's), yet you said that was a great success. So why was Squid Game successful and Inside wasn't (according to this measurement)?
Efficiency is how many adjusted views per dollar spent, so high efficiency is good! The point with Inside was that _despite_ the fact that it was more efficient, it didn't draw in as much business as Sticks and Stones. Squid Game gets its wild efficiency from the fact that it cost relatively little to make and generated a ton of business for Netflix, hence the great success.
@@cutting-concepts thanks for the elaboration, I think I still need to read more into this to fully grasp the logic. Like, if the "value" of a show is derived from its "efficiency" MULTIPLIED by its "budget", then surely high budgets would always be more likely to lead to a higher "value". So, maximizing for "value": if Netflix wants a "value" of 19M (like the example you used got), they could just spend 100M on Sticks and Stones and then only need an "efficiency" of 0.19 - MUCH lower and easier to achieve than 0.8. It feels like a counter-intuitive system where high budgets always yield higher value and where low budgets always yield low values (or at least need a much, much higher efficiency to achieve the same value) ???
It kind of works that way. Typically larger productions bring in larger audiences, if only because they feature bigger names and bigger marketing campaigns. But obviously there are limits, and Netflix probably prefers to make shows that profit-if you made a show for $100 M and only got $19 M worth of business, that would *not* go over well with the shareholders. That was my point high budget productions being riskier and having slimmer margins-they bring in more business, but not always as much as it cost to make. It's much easier for a low budget production to be profitable, but being profitable doesn't mean it draws in a lot of business.
i will never forgive them for cancelling Altered Carbon, and i blame Anthony Mackie and screenwriters of season 2 for it... the second season was far far worse than incredible Season 1 and one of the main reasons was Mackies acting.