Netflix has an annoying habit of pulling the pin on shows before they have had a chance to build bigger audiences, and the platform’s emphasis on binge watching could be to blame.

Contemporary Greek mythology-inspired series Kaos is one of Netflix’s most recent victims, cancelled just over a month after the release of its first season despite a buzzy reception and ranking in Netflix’s Top 10 list for four weeks.

This follows a string of Netflix series that failed to get green-lit for second seasons, such as Dead Boy Detectives, The Brothers Sun, and 1899.

if I had a nickel for every time Netflix cancelled a show after one season, I’d have enough nickels to make my own show at Netflix that would be cancelled after one season https://t.co/yLvIoeitPm

— amboo 👻 (@mbrleigh) October 8, 2024

Netflix is not the only streaming service to be called out for the practice, with Prime Video criticised for cancelling My Lady Jane just a few weeks after its release this year, and other services such as Disney+ deleting existing content for tax breaks.

But Netflix is considered the most frequent offender, with subscribers left either not watching new shows to avoid disappointment in case of cancellation, or feeling pressured to binge as fast as possible to prove a show’s worth.

RMIT University lecturer in media and cinema studies Djoymi Baker told TND one of the biggest issues with the cancellations was the speed in which streaming services made the decisions.

Not enough time for success with bingeing

Even in the world of broadcast television, series have always relied on a certain level of commercial success to be continued, with more pressure on expensive productions such as Kaos to deliver results.

Many people feel shows on streaming services are not given enough time to develop the required audiences.

Not all extremely popular series started out that way: Schitt’s Creek took years and multiple seasons to transition from a niche audience to mainstream success.

Even the more prominent series, The Last of Us, saw its audience get bigger with every episode released, beginning its first season with 4.7 million viewers and ending with 8.2 million.

“When you cut something so quickly, it doesn’t give a chance for the audience to be built,” Baker said.

“We saw with The Last of Us, the viewership increased per episode because it wasn’t just people bingeing, it was people spreading through good old-fashioned word of mouth … news articles … and it built an audience.

“If you know a show has already been cancelled, do you even bother watching it?”

Although Netflix has experimented with different release formats, from weekly episode drops for some shows to releasing half a season at a time for others, it still leans heavily towards the binge-release model it popularised years ago.

This pressures subscribers to watch an entire season of a show immediately after its release to prove it would be worth the cost of an additional season.

I haven’t watched a new Netflix original show besides Heartstopper because they notoriously cancel after one season and I refuse to add that kind of depression to my life

— Saz🌻 (@fxcking_yours) October 8, 2024

I do think we’re getting a season 4 since that’s all Alice has wanted/needed for the show, BUT we should still stream tf out of Heartstopper to secure those numbers and impress Netflix anyway. Stream it on low volume in the background if you have to! Keep streaming. 🍂🫶🏻

— Rae✨🩵 (@raefabulous) October 4, 2024

“It’s almost saying, ‘Well, you better binge or you’ll lose it’. And not everyone likes to watch that way,” Baker said.

“People might like to alternate their shows. You might want to finish off a show you’re already watching before you take on something new.

“Some people love to binge … but people don’t like to feel like they’re being forced to change their behaviour to get the content they want.”

Streaming’s honeymoon period over

Frequent cancellations come amid increased competition and costs in the streaming sector, leading to measures such as subscription price hikes, introduction of advertisements and password-sharing crackdowns.

A new residuals deal that resulted from last year’s SAG-AFTRA strikes is also adding to streaming services’ expenses – although CEOs are still raking in millions.

“When streaming came in, it was sold to us as something that could replace our own personal collections,” Baker said.

“We didn’t need to have our own box sets of DVDs or Blu-rays, because streaming would have it all there for us.

“Now … we can’t rely on the streaming services to act as our archives, and that may become increasingly problematic.”