A key issue is that streaming platforms are increasingly concerned with performance-based and statistical success which allows them to roll out highly paid advertisement schemes rather than caring about the writing, production, and casting process, sacrificing the curation of an authentic, slow-profit fanbase for convenient money grabs.
Most importantly, producers are failing to give shows the time and chance to find their audience. As reported by GLAAD, "Over a quarter of viewers wait for the finale before watching a series and will not watch if there is an unresolved ending." This means a vast majority of streaming TV viewers may not watch a show's debut episode or season, but, given time for the show to develop its plot and characters, they may later discover and fall in love with it.
Another cause is that there are too many streaming series, more than any consumer can keep up with. This, in turn, means there are increasingly limited opportunities for comparative success. If a streaming show fails to immediately capture widespread attention, it gets cancelled. This is because ratings of a show in the first week after it drops are crucial for a series' renewal chances, though there is still lots unknown about Netflix's viewing metrics and what makes a show worthy of renewal. For example, after the release of Season 2, Shadow and Bone was watched for over 1.14 billion viewing minutes in the first four days and yet the show was never renewed for season three despite fan protests across social media.
This is perhaps the most confusing reality of streaming TV. Four years post the cancellation of 'The Society' Netflix's twisted modern take on "Lord of the Flies", social media continues to be flooded with articles, tweets, TikTok's and petitions, from both fans and actors, to see a season two that resolves the cliff-hanger ending. From the outside, this seems like the exact money grab Netflix would lean towards and yet there still seems to be little chance that these requests will become a reality. In a similar vein, Fincher's 'Mind Hunters', the criminal thriller which gave an insight into the minds of villains, and perhaps the most controversial axe in recent television history, a topic still too sore for its 30 million viewers to discuss. Fans continue to protest these seemingly unfair cancellations to no avail.
The TV graveyard seems to be growing endlessly long, from Jessica Jones, 1899, Forever, Anne with an E, Limitless, and endless more, leading to an overall decreasing number of TV streaming viewers. This ultimately leads to a sad cycle in which viewers are reluctant to start news for fear of them getting cancelled, which ultimately leads to their cancellation due to low viewership.
There does however seem to be a positive sign of change. There seems to be a growing understanding of the need to move away from quantity over quality and more attention being focused on a thorough writing and production process over advertising schemes.
