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Comment by fbdab103 | Hacker News Reader

However, I doubt just because there are 4x streaming platforms there are suddenly 4x studios capable of producing even a low budget show. Knowing nothing of media production, but I assume there are a large number of technical roles which are advisable if trying to produce mainstream content.

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The number of scripted shows tripled from 2009 to 2022. From 210 to 599.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/peak-tv-2022-co...!

This was also the period where Netflix et al discovered that shows become more costly to make and less likely to get brand-new subscribers around season 3. So it’s hard for me to give that statistic any weight.

> This was also the period where Netflix et al discovered that shows become more costly to make and less likely to get brand-new subscribers around season 3.

This isn't the only reason I stopped watching shows, but its certainly a contributing factor. Kinda gets old seeing some cool first season setup a bunch of interesting story arcs, great show, etc and then cancelled.

Yeah, if Netflix wants to do short shows, they should follow the British model of TV series. Short series but with a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. Not this bunch of half started stories that just stop.

Netflix is just following the Japanese model of animated series where you put out an incredibly strong season one and then cut all funding to it.

Most of those are just advertisements for the source material. Anime originals plan things out and wrap up nicely (unless Gainax, but even that is an old meme now)

cough 1899 cough

I'd been a Netflix streaming subscriber since.. I don't know when? As long as the service has existed, most likely, and DVDs before that. Even so, by earlier this year I'd already been thinking about cancelling for a while. Much of their content seems pretty mediocre these days, and there's just so much of it. When they cancelled a well executed first season show that was so clearly an introduction to a bigger story.. that really made the decision to cancel a no brainer.

For Netflix, it's not just about new shows driving subscriber count. I'm probably summarizing incorrectly, but it also has to do with their royalty structure. Canceling a show after two seasons allows them to save a ton of money by short-changing their creators and stars, while still getting headlines about signing huge-figure deals with those same people.

[source]: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/tvs-new-...

This is why I said that "Netflix et al discovered that shows become more costly to make" in the GP, but thanks for providing a reference.

An often-heard complaint is that Netflix cancels shows after a single season, despite there being a really enthusiastic fanbase for them.

The number of scripted shows is completely irrelevant when they don't say anything about the total number of episodes. Instead of six seasons of one show, you could just be getting one season each for six different shows.

Hard to call that an improvement when it leads to shows getting cancelled right as they start to become interesting, leading to their storyline never getting resolved.

There is certainly plenty of talent in Hollywood sitting around most of the time. Downtime is a well established phenomena of the business as you wait for another gig. Beyond that, there are plenty of people looking to break into showbiz. If you throw around money, more shows get made. Quality can thin as top talent is spread across more shows but we're nowhere near the maximum throughput given infinite dollars.

It's not cost effective though. It's more a matter of fixed viewership.

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