On Streaming Platforms, No Rhyme, Reason or Ratings
A lack of clarity around ratings spurs changes in programming for streaming platforms.
This past week, Netflix’s reversal on its renewal of GLOW spurred a conversation (best summed up at Vulture) about the changing nature of the platform, which was once viewed as a haven for stories outside the mainstream. As more and more networks have stepped into that role (FX, HBOMax, AppleTV+) and Netflix has grown in scale and influence, its programming has become a numbers game. The same goes for Hulu, which was dinged a few months ago for cancelling the fan-favorite gender-reversal adaptation of High Fidelity. But the underlying motivations here aren’t strictly quantity vs. quality. Instead, these changes seem to be a larger story of streamers struggling to balance a catalog of content that’s seemingly limitless — unbound by scheduling blocks or public-facing ratings — whose only objective metric is budget. The lack of transparency around the way streamers deal with ratings has long been maligned, but it seems particularly pertinent now when shows that have a following are being cut short.
It used to be that Netflix offered an alternative to the ratings-driven world of network TV, or at least an alternate universe in which intellectual property that originated on traditional platforms could find a second life. Examples of shows that ended on networks only to pick up where they left off on Netflix include Arrested Development, You, and The Killing along with reboots of long-dormant shows like Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and Fuller House. But in recent months, that trajectory has started to change. In an interesting role reversal, Netflix’s cancelled Latinx reboot of One Day at a Time found a home on CBS. Today, Netflix seems to be less a champion of the unassuming and original, and more of a growth-minded business. (Which, to be fair, is what most media companies are at the end of the day).
It’s notable that networks like ABC (Stumptown) and Showtime (On Becoming a God in Central Florida) have also been rescinding on renewal orders, an unusual move that’s due in part to the pandemic. With the slowdown of peak TV that the virus and related shutdowns has brought on, shows that don’t have broad appeal are likely to be the first ones cut. For streamers like Hulu and Netflix, the cost of producing or simply distributing a buzzy film might be more worth it in terms of generating subscriptions than renewing a niche TV show. As noted in the Vulture piece, the syndication deals that made the talent behind superhits of the 90s like Friends and Seinfeld, lifelong millionaires simply don’t exist anymore. Instead, streamers are the ones who stand to benefit from hits, not talent. With the lack of clarity around ratings, creatives have less leverage, and only high-profile showrunners like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, who was courted to Netflix from FX in a record $300 million dollar deal, stand to win. It remains to be seen how these dynamics will shift as the industry adjusts to a new normal and reinvents itself yet again.
