Netflix expert explains why it cancels so many shows so often

Lately, it seems like no Netflix show has been safe from cancellation, but we might finally have some idea why.

News of various series being cancelled on Netflix has been seemingly getting more and more frequent. Right at the start of the year, it was confirmed that the period drama 1899 was being ditched after just a single season, much to the disappointment of fans (who promptly started up a petition in an attempt to save it). Now, it’s been announced that the animated comedy Inside Job is also over, despite the fact that it’d already had a second season confirmed in summer last year.

Take a look at the trailer for Inside Job below.

But what determines what makes the cut? What separates the likes of Stranger Things and Wednesday from Fate: The Winx Saga and The Imperfects? According to a report from Forbes, it could be to do with the completion rate of series rather than their popularity alone.

The article cites a number of different examples to back this point up - the coming-of-age romantic comedy Heartstopper apparently had a 73% completion rate, and has been renewed for two more seasons. Meanwhile, reportedly, only 44% of viewers watched the supernatural teen drama First Kill all the way through, and it was soon cancelled. According to What’s On Netflix, preliminary data suggested that the competition rate for 1899 could be as low as 32%.

From Netflix’s point of view, it makes sense, right? If only a small proportion of viewers cared enough about a show to watch it all, it would suggest that the amount of people eager to watch another season of it would be equally tiny. Obviously though, that’s not what the faithful fanbases of these shows want to hear, and the fear of cancellation can make watching the more unpopular shows on the platform less enticing in the first place.

For now, it seems that all we can really do is make sure that we complete any series we’re interested in, in the hopes that it might make a difference when it comes to being renewed.