Netflix posts like this have been piling up again in recent weeks: “Goosebumps at Midnight” has been canceled, “Half Bad: The Bastard Son And The Devil Himself” has been canceled, “Warrior Nun” has been cancelled. Before that, it reached “Fate: The Winx Saga”, “First Kill”, “Resident Evil” or “Archive 81” in 2022 alone. What all these series have in common: they were in the list of most watched Netflix series worldwide for at least a week, but sometimes even longer. But why were they dropped?
Peter Friedlander, responsible for fictional Netflix series in the US and Canada, answers this in an interview with the American industry magazine : “I think the top 10 list is a useful tool for people to find, discover, talk about and watch shows.” It’s all about the popularity of the series at the time.
“And then, when we have to make our decisions, it is also about the long term and looking over a longer period of time. We also always look at many variables. The top 10 is just one of those variables.” like Friedländer.
So what does that mean in plain language? Just because a show is equally popular and ranks in the top 10 most watched shows doesn’t mean Netflix bills it as a hit. Not even if the series is such a hit as ‘Wednesday’ and has already been watched more than a billion hours (!) on Netflix within three weeks.
Because despite these sensational numbers, which on the face of it call for an immediate extension, we are still waiting for an extension of “Wednesday” – and Netflix is still waiting for now and evaluating the reception of “Wednesday”, as Friedlander spoke to explained elsewhere:
“We are still at the beginning of this cultural phenomenon. And there is a lot to absorb and learn. It’s surprising how quickly a series like this can explode on Netflix, and there’s a lot of feedback viewers and fans want to hear.”
“The Sandman” as an example
How important the long-term (or at least longer-term) success of a series is to its renewal could also be very well observed this year with “The Sandman”. The series started in August 2022, did well (but not outstandingly) in the top 10 – and finally got renewed in November 2022, when it felt like no one really believed in a second season anymore.
Most likely “The Sandman” continued to be widely watched (and discussed on the internet etc.) long after the series dropped from the global top 10 lists, which is why Netflix decided to renew it anyway. Maybe it was different with “Goosebumps at Midnight”, “Warrior Nun” or “Fate: The Winx Saga”.