Netflix has earned a reputation lately for cancelling popular shows on their streaming service. Now Netflix’s head of U.S. and Canada scripted series, Peter Friedlander, has taken the time to explain why these cancellations keep happening.
As revealed in an interview with Variety, he believes that “the cancellations are the hardest part of this job.” Especially given the amount of people that work on these projects. Nevertheless, it’s “been a part of our business forever,” Friedlander stated.
Here’s his full statement on the matter:
“I think you will hear this from many folks, but the cancellations are the hardest part of this job and when I think about the work that both the creators and all the people at Netflix put into them, we care passionately about them, and it’s not something that we take lightly. It’s just a frustrating part of the job that’s been a part of our business forever, so this isn’t a new experience to have cancellations, and hopefully we can continue to bring in shows that continue.”
Of course, subscribers might still be confused why so many Top 10 shows are canceled by Netflix. As it turns out, however, the Top 10 is one variable they look at when renewing a series. Here’s how Friedlander explained that process and what he believes the Top 10 feature to be the most useful for:
“I think the Top 10 is a useful tool for people to find shows, discover shows, talk about shows and also helps you for viewing. The Top 10 really serves in that way, and I think that’s something that speaks to the popularity in that moment, and I think that’s what it’s really about in that moment. And then when we have to make our decisions, it’s about the long term and the longer term viewing. We always are looking at many variables, too. The Top 10 is just one variable in that.”
Unfortunately, that still doesn’t answer the other variables that Netflix looks at when canceling or renewing a series. For now, however, they seem to understand that cancelling shows is simply a part of the Netflix business model. So while it’d be nice to see everything get a second chance, we should probably expect additional cancellations in the future.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for updates as we have them. It’s possible that their business practices will change – but we’ll just have to wait and see as time goes on.