Netflix’s Viewership Data Provides Glimpse Into Renewal Decisions: ‘Shadow And Bone’ Was Most Watched Canceled Series In First Half Of 2023

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read
6

Streaming giant Netflix has always said that the decisions whether to renew a show or not are based on performance vs. cost. The release today of What We Watched, a Netflix report on global viewed hours for 18,000 titles — original and licensed — from January to June of 2023 provides context on the calls the streamer made for seasons that debuted during that period.

It won’t come as much of a consolation to Shadow and Bone fans, who are still reeling from the fantasy drama’s cancellation after two seasons, but it was the most watched English-language scripted series from that period to get the axe, amassing 192.9M hours viewed from its March 16 debut through end of June to rank #26.

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Shadow and Bone was one of five series Netflix opted not to continue in November, along with Glamorous and adult animated comedies Agent Elvis, Farzar and Captain Fall. The decision came on the heels of the double Hollywood strikes, which scrambled networks and streamers’ scheduling plans, with shows missing their projected launches to create long gaps between seasons and a pipeline logjam for late 2024 and 2025.

Strike-related delays and the high price tag of Shadow and Bone likely played a role in its demise, despite it also spawning a video game franchise for Netflix.

And while there are other factors beyond performance determining each show’s fate, including cost and awards attention, the streamer’s report reveals Shadow and Bone‘s viewership levels as an approximate threshold for hourlong English-language series from that period to get renewed. (Because data is based on hours viewed, comedies can draw half as many hours for a similar level of performance.)

All series above Shadow and Bone eligible for renewal have been picked up for another season, including Vikings: Valhalla (#22, 205.5M), whose upcoming third season will be its last.

The first new season below Shadow and Bone S2, Sweet Tooth (S2, #28) which posted 182.3M hours, has been renewed for a third and final season. The next English-language scripted series, Sex/Life S2 (#31, 175.5M) has been canceled, as were other dramas lower on the list whose seasons launched within the January-June window.

Data for Glamorous is skewed as it premiered in late June, drawing 36.6M hours (#484) for the first nine days of viewing within the measured period.

Netflix has been more lenient with its comedy renewals.

While That ’90s Show S1 ranked #100 with a respectable 95.1M hours viewed for a half-hour show, fellow multi-camera sitcom The Upshaws Part 3, which consisted of 8 episodes vs. 10 for the That ’70s Show sequel, ranked just below #1000 with 21.6M hours. Both have been renewed for additional installments, as has the Rob Lowe’s single-camera comedy Unstable, whose first season ranked #511 with 35.3M hours across 8 episodes.

For comparison, fellow freshman half-hour XO, Kitty (10 eps) logged 200.7M hours to rank #24, the highest for an ongoing comedy to drop a new season from Jan-June 2023.

As for Agent Elvis, featuring Matthew McConaughey as the voice of Elvis Presley, the first season of the animated comedy, which premiered in March, ranked #3306 with a paltry 5.5M hours viewed.

Interestingly, Farzar, which had been released in July 2022, nabbed almost the same viewership, 5.2M hours, in the Jan-June 2023 period.

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