Film News Blitz writer Jesse-Ann Baron breaks down the real reasons your favourite streaming show doesn’t get a season two, and none of them is “it wasn’t good enough”.
Great shows are cancelled after a successful first season, no matter the popularity, like the horror series Archive 81 that reached Netflix’s number two spot globally.
The series was praised by fans and critics alike; it had the ratings, the buzz, and critical acclaim, but still it was not renewed.
So if it’s not the ratings or the critics, what is it?
Turns out there are three reasons, and none of them has anything to do with quality at all.
1. Platforms value new subscribers over fans
The streaming business models often prioritise getting new subscribers over retaining existing ones.
So when a flashy new season-one show is on their platform, it is used as a marketing tool to hook new sign-ups.
But a season two rarely brings in new subscribers because it serves the audience the platform already has.
The perfect example is the Netflix original sci-fi series 1899, which was clearly targeting a global audience with its multilingual cast and stellar virtual production tech.
This show was a global success; it hit number one in 55 countries, yet it had a low completion rate.
2. The hidden streaming completion rate that axes series
Big streaming platforms like Disney Plus, HBO and Netflix don’t just care about how many people start watching the show; they track how many finish it.
In the streaming industry, raw viewing data is not relied on; rather, a show must have a 50% completion rate in its first 28 days.
This is the way a show secures a renewal, but if viewers don’t binge the show in less than a month, they view this as a bad long-term investment.
Basically, they determine success not by how big the fanbase is or even if it’s top show globally, but rather if those viewers binge it fast enough.
3. Secret season two pay spike
The most obvious reason streaming platforms cancel new shows is the cost to film a second season.
The financial model for streaming is that platforms must pay production costs and a premium bonus upfront.
This means that actors’ pay rises, showrunners usually expand the world and production unions demand higher pay for crew.
All of this is expected, but audience numbers drop or often plateau as the first season excitement fades.
An example of this is the hit show Beef, which saw a massive drop in viewers for the second season, with 2.4 million viewers compared to the first season opening with 5.8 million.
This deters many platforms from giving a second season because the viewers don’t make enough to cover the high budget for season two.
The season two pay spike is the most likely reason why there wasn’t a second season for the series 1899, as the tech, let alone the steep salary raises for cast and crew, was a high financial risk.
What can you do to save your favourite show?
You need to binge that show in the first 28 days to boost opening metrics.
If you really love the show, leave it running on loop in the background to make it seem there is continuous watch time.
Watch on ad-free paid tiers on your chosen streaming platform to generate the highest revenue for the show.
Leave positive ratings on IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to really influence the algorithm.
Mobilise on social media by posting continuously about the show and making a hashtag trend globally.
But, if all that fails, you always have group chat rage, a Reddit thread and the quiet acceptance that these streaming platforms just don’t care about you.
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