Streaming companies offer this defense: They never promised shows would live forever.
Actor Diana-Maria Riva is all too familiar with a show being canceled. For a performer, it’s painful, unfortunate part of show business. But this was different.
In December, Riva was floored when she found out that “Gordita Chronicles” would be removed entirely from HBO Max’s vast streaming library – one of dozens of shows that HBO effectively wiped from existence for U.S. viewers.
“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 the mother of a plus-sized 12-year-old named Cucu in the critically lauded comedy about a Dominican family adapting to life in 1980s Miami.
As streamers face mounting pressure to save money, several have followed HBO’s lead. Erasing original shows 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. These issues have increased tension between executives and writers amid union contract negotiations that started in March and could lead to a significant work stoppage.
Streaming companies offer this defense: They never promised shows would live forever. In a hyper-competitive market, they say, each streamer is trying to balance ample offerings with sheer survival.
Amid the downturn in tech and media, streamers are being pushed to cut spending and turn a profit rather than “chasing growth at all costs,” media analyst Dan Rayburn says.
HBO’s 2022 purges occurred as its parent company, Warner Bros., merged with Discovery, enabling a slew of tax write-off possibilities. In January, Starz erased a handful of shows including “Dangerous Liaisons,” which disappeared just days after the finale aired. A few weeks later, Showtime underwent its own culling. It eliminated the Jeff Daniels-led drama “American Rust,” among others. Cuts at Paramount+, merging with Showtime, included Jordan Peele’s revival of “The Twilight Zone.”
How much money streamers save through these erasures is unclear. But Rayburn says the companies clearly concluded the excised shows weren’t bringing in enough new customers or significantly aiding retention.
