Why Your Beloved TV Shows are Leaving Netflix
Netflix is an American over-the-top content platform and production company headquartered in Los Gatos, California. The entertainment giant that has been around and impactful in our lives at least once every year when Netflix releases a blockbuster movie or tv show. Titles that are action-packed since it went digital in 2007, have made us happy, sad, scared, all through the full circle. It’s easy to forget that the streaming giant actually started as a subscription-based DVD provider offering you monthly entertainment for a low price of around $5.99 in 1997.
Now, all of its subscribers can enjoy an all-digital content library of more than 13,500 titles! Surely a huge turnover from Netflix’s 5,200 titles in January of 2000.
From the American science fiction horror mystery-thriller television series created by the Duffer Brothers called “Stranger Things”, to more internationally recognized Netflix Originals such as “Money Heist”, which won Best Miniseries or TV series at the 2020 Platino Awards. That said however, every year a lot of titles leave Netflix. Many fans have been wondering as to why Netflix lets go so many amazing titles such as “Gossip Girl”, “Ip Man 1–4”, “The Office”, “Friends”, and many more. Those are not only the most memorable titles that fans are known to love, but also keeps fans questioning :
“why are so many of your beloved TV shows and movies leaving Netflix?”
To analyze the problem, we must first find out about the history that made the entertainment platform great. In 2006, Netflix announced the Netflix Prize, a competition for creating an algorithm that would “improve their predictions about which titles someone is going to enjoy.” The winner was chosen and ever since that,
Netflix’s analytics are better according to them and their 130 million worldwide subscribers (2018).
To the consumer’s eye, Netflix may seem to them as good guessers for choosing and/or recommending their favorite tv shows and movies.
However, it is not the only reason that made Netflix great. As an example, the American political thriller “House of Cards” was not chosen because Netflix thought subscribers might like it, or that they thought solely because it seemed like a good plot. The truth is that Netflix had found based on several data that it had collected from their customers, pointed positively towards the consumer’s liking. And that algorithm, paired with the countless data that Netflix has, can make better decisions on which shows to launch, which movies to license, and most importantly according to them, make users happier with their service. That is something that traditional television networks don’t have access to.
Regarding our favorite tv shows and movies that are leaving or already left Netflix. Here are a few things put into consideration “why your favorite shows are leaving Netflix”, such as :
· When are the rights to the title ending?
· How popular is the title, and how much would it cost the company?
· Seasonal and regional factors
Titles that Netflix licenses are from studios all around the world. One example is “Gossip Girl” the American teen drama series, produced by television network The CW. It was revealed that the show will be moving off of Netflix to HBO Max, which is a competitor to the platform. But some public opinions say that it was due to the low popularity of the show from time to time. Partly due to the reboot of the show under the same name, airing exclusively on HBO Max (service not available in Indonesia yet).
Therefore on the 31st of December 2020, Gossip Girl is officially off Netflix.
Other shows that have shown significantly less interest by their subscribers will likely follow along the paths of “Gossip Girl”.
In contrast, Netflix is not going to leave you all alone thinking about a title that has left the platform. Netflix’s algorithm will suggest to you other similar titles or shows that have and/or somehow related to the title that you searched but are found to be not present. Intending to keep its already large number of subscribers,
Netflix said that it will lay out $17.3 billion in cash for original content in 2020. So we’ll just have to wait and see what Netflix has in the works for us.
Streaming platforms such as Netflix is mainly a data company. And since its status is as a private company, its ultimate goal is to make a profit and pay its shareholders. The company has not always been this way, it went through quite a bit of evolution, and some might consider the change from DVD to online-streaming “revolutionary” as a more fitting title to the company’s journey. We have learned that it doesn’t happen instantly overnight to be one of the largest entertainment platforms on the market today. But as the world moves forward, consumers want more and more titles to entertain their daily lives. Netflix has not only proven to be their best or dare I say “the absolute best” streaming platform, but it’s also proven that with the advanced technology behind its decision-making AI, that it can predict the company’s future projects and consumer behavior.
We as users often don’t think too deeply about a company from this angle. We often want what we want and never think about the reasoning as to why a company made that decision. Cutting shows and movies from their list is surely not easy in the minds of the consumers, however, to stand amongst the ever-growing competition, sacrifices must be made. I believe that Netflix can become better over time, and with more Netflix Originals in production as of typing this right now.
It is safe to say that whenever Netflix cuts its ties with a certain title, you can be sure that Netflix will have already prepared a similar if not a better version of the title you were looking for.
