#Away, The Society, Teenage Bounty Hunters: Netflix Bosses Discuss Cancellation Criticisms

(Seacia Pavao / Netflix)

Why has Netflix cancelled so many shows lately? Recently, executives Ted Sarandos and Bela Bajaria discussed the reasoning behind the season one cancellations of TV shows like The Society, Away, and Teenage Bounty Hunters, reports Deadline.

In addition to the three series above, Netflix has cancelled I Am Not Okay with This, GLOW, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Spinning Out, and more this year.

During the recent Paley International Council Summit, Netflix executives Ted Sarandos and Bela Bajaria explained the streaming service’s decision to cancel so many shows after their first season. Bajaria said:

If you look at season twos and more, we actually have a renewal rate of 67%, which is industry standard. We also do make a large amount of first season shows, which sometimes feels that we have more first season cancellations but if you look at the renewal rate it’s really strong. I also think you have to look at The Crown, with season four launching now, Grace & Frankie and The Ranch, we’ve had long running shows and we’re always going to have a mix that are great to be told in a limited series form and shows that go on for multiple seasons.

I’ve been in the business a long time and been on all different sides of those cancellations. It’s always painful to cancel a show and nobody wants to do that. We order straight to series in the first rather than make pilots, which results sometimes in more season one cancellations. Even with that, I still believe a season order is still a better creative expression of a writer’s idea so I still think that’s the right model for us.

Sarandos noted that it felt like bigger news when the streaming service cancelled a show. He added that Netflix doesn’t necessarily measure a show’s success on its longevity:

It seems like in this new age of television, the business model is a little different. The things that marked success prior to Netflix and OTT really had been getting to syndication, that was the goal and anything that didn’t get to 100 episodes or past the four seasons didn’t feel like a success, whereas I think many shows can be a success for being exactly what they are and you could tell that story in two seasons or one season or five seasons. I think it gets talked about so much because it’s measured against the old way of doing things.”

What do you think? Which cancelled Netflix TV shows do you wish had been renewed?