Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters claim that they wouldn't cancel a show if it proved to be successful.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Sarandos and Peters were asked about the backlash they have been facing from fans due to Netflix's recent slate of canceled shows. Sarandos reiterated that Netflix has never "canceled a successful show," citing poor viewership numbers as the key reason why the streaming service refuses to go ahead with some series.
"A lot of these shows were well-intended but talk to a very small audience on a very big budget," he said. "The key to it is you have to be able to talk to a small audience on a small budget and a large audience at a large budget. If you do that well, you can do that forever." The streaming service has chosen not to renew several shows as of late, including fantasy drama Warrior Nun, animated sitcom Inside Job, German period sci-fi 1899 and horror show Resident Evil, sparking criticism from viewers on social media.
Not Every Show Can Be Squid Game
Sarandos highlighted Squid Game as an instance of a successful show, with the South-Korean drama series essentially becoming an overnight, international hit through word of mouth alone. "It is very rare that a show like Squid Game from Korea would be as global as it was," he said. "Within 30 hours, the world was watching Squid Game with no human intervention to try to market Squid Game to the world."
Shortly after its release, the first season of Squid Game became the most popular season of streamed television ever. The series remains Netflix's most popular show, with an estimated 1.65 billion hours watched within the first 28 days of its release. Squid Game has since been renewed for a second season. "We're just getting started to make Squid Game not an unusual thing, but basically something that happens literally every week," Peters said.
Sarandos also described what shows have to do in order to be successful, stating that Netflix caters to a large audience base with different tastes by providing a variety of entertainment. "We are equal parts HBO, AMC, FX, the Food Network, HGTV and Comedy Central. Lifetime," he said. "You used to have to hunt through 500 channels of cable to find them all and now they're gonna be on Netflix. The measure of quality is, if you love a dating show, make it as good as The Ultimatum, make it as good as Love is Blind. There's no difference in prestige quality television in each of these genres as long as they're well executed."
Despite Sarandos and Peters' defense, frustration continues to grow online over Netflix's choice to greenlight some shows and cancel others. In 2022, the streaming service canceled shows such as The Midnight Club, Fate: The Winx Saga, The OA, The Baby-Sitters Club, Gentefied, and Santa Clarita Diet. Following the cancellation of First Kill, a social media campaign under the hashtag #CancelNetflix began trending.
Source: Bloomberg