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Netflix Has A Retention Problem
Bloomberg published a pretty startling report yesterday revealing that several huge Netflix series are really struggling in their second season. For instance, One Piece, the live action anime adaptation, lost almost half its audience between seasons. (Iโm included in that drop, didnโt come back for the second one.) The second season of Beef had an even crazier tumble, going from around 30 million views in its first outing to barely 10 million in its second. (I watched that one and actually forgot about it entirely.)
If you read any of the comments about this story on Reddit or X, youโre going to see the same thing from pretty much everyone: โWe got 120-plus episodes of LOST in six years,โ one user wrote. โWe got 42 episodes of Stranger Things in nine years.โ Which is no doubt part of the problem. Another user pointed out that weโll have to wait until 2027 before we get a second season of Blue Eye Samurai, which came out in 2023. (Another show I loved, but completely forgot exists.)
According to Bloomberg, both dramas and comedies are suffering equally. But comedian Adam Conover put out a great video essay last week that went deeper into how comedies, in particular, are suffering in the streaming age. Conover highlights a bunch of problems โ lack of studio audiences, bloated over-arching plotlines meant for binging, smaller writersโ rooms โ but basically comes to the same conclusion as everyone else. You canโt get to know characters if you have to wait years to watch another season. Even newer streaming sitcoms, like FXโs Adults, which will, this year, put out its second season in as many years, and is…