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Actor Diana-Maria Riva is all too familiar with one of her shows being canceled. For a performer, it’s a painful, unfortunate part of show business. But this was different.
In December, Riva was floored when she found out that “Gordita Chronicles,” her recently canceled family comedy, would be removed from HBO Max’s vast streaming library — one of dozens of shows that HBO last year effectively wiped from existence for U.S. viewers. Among others: “Westworld,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” “Minx,” “Mrs. Fletcher” and numerous animated and reality series.
For Riva, the developments were crushing. Over 10 episodes, the critically lauded series followed a plus-sized 12-year-old named Cucu as she and her Dominican family adapt to life in 1980s Miami.
“It was as if somebody had broken up with you and then came back to remind you a couple of weeks later that we’ve broken up,” says Riva, who played Cucu’s mother. “It was already heartbreaking. But then it’s an added punch to just say, ‘Now we’re going to wipe the evidence of you ever having been here.’”
As streamers face mounting pressure to save money, several have followed HBO’s lead. Erasing original shows from their libraries can help streamers get tax write-downs and, to a smaller extent, save on residual payments. But it brings criticism that they are sidelining already marginalized voices and shortchanging creatives out of already slimmer residual paychecks. These issues have increased tension between executives and writers amid union contract negotiations that started late last month and could lead to a significant work stoppage this spring.
Streaming companies offer this defense: They never promised that shows would live forever. In a hyper-competitive, changing market, they say, each streamer is trying to balance ample offerings with sheer survival.
STREAMERS TIGHTEN THEIR BELTS
Amid the downturn in the tech and media industries, streamers are being pushed to cut spending and turn a profit rather than “chasing growth at all costs,” media analyst Dan Rayburn says.
“These companies have had to change the way they’re spending on content because Wall Street says you’ve got to get to profitability much faster,” Rayburn says. He cites how Disney’s stock nosedived in November after the company revealed that its direct-to-consumer unit, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, lost nearly $1.5 billion in one quarter.
HBO’s 2022 purges — which occurred as its parent company, Warner Bros., merged with Discovery, enabling a slew of tax write-off possibilities — were the most notable example. But its rivals quickly followed suit. In January, Starz erased a handful of shows including “Dangerous Liaisons,” a costume drama that disappeared from its streaming app days after the finale aired. Some fans said they missed the last episode.
Then, a few weeks later, Showtime underwent its own culling. It eliminated the Jeff Daniels-led drama “American Rust,” among others.
