Netflix in the last months of last year has made a real carnage, canceling dozens and dozens of TV series. Within a few months it was announced that The Warrior Nun, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, Blockbuster, Fate: The Winx Saga, The Midnight Club e Resident Evil they would not return with a new season. These were shows that, even if they hadn’t achieved large numbers, had conquered passionate fanbases who were very disappointed by this decision made by the streaming giant. What is sad is that these TV series have remained broken and ended without having a real ending, leaving viewers with many questions. If the deletion of The Warrior Nun generated a lot of outrage, there was another announcement that made the web go crazy. Also 1899the series created by the brilliant creators of Darkwas prematurely cancelled after just one season. This was a bolt from the blue that infuriated the streaming platform’s subscribers, and within hours, the hasthag #CancelNetflix was everywhere.
Now Netflix CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters have defended last months cancellations.
Greg Peters just a few days ago he became the new CEO of the streaming giant, after that Reed Hastings he resigned on 20 January last. Ted Sarandos on the other hand has been the CEO of the company since 2020 and he had already been head of content in previous years. Just Sarandos recently in an interview given to Bloomberg addressed the thorny issue of the cancellations of the last few months which have generated much discontent. The Netflix CEO defended the company’s decision, stating that they would never cancel hit series. He then explained the real reason that prompted them not to renew these shows:
“Netflix has never canceled a hit show. Many of these shows were well thought out, but they spoke to very small audiences and required a very large budget. The key is that you need to be able to speak to small audiences on a small budget and large audiences on a big budget. If you do it right, you can do it forever”.
TV series like 1899 o The Warrior Nun which needed a large budget to be able to go ahead, but unfortunately they did not get enough spectators to push the top management to renew them. Unlike Squid Game, without any promotion, it has become a global phenomenon. Ted Sarandos he said he is working because what happened to Squid Game is not just an isolated case:
“It is very rare for a show like Squid Game, which comes from Korea, to become such a global phenomenon. In less than 30 hours, the world was watching Squid Game and this happened without any human intervention to try and commercialize Squid Game to the world. We’re trying to make sure that what happened with Squid Game isn’t unusualbut basically something that happens literally every week“.
