Over 50 shows are being pulled from Disney Plus and Hulu
www.theverge.com
Including Willow, which only finished airing in January.

Would you all explain to me how removing content we expect to have access to is a “cost savings” measure?

The following is from the Willow Wikipedia page, which led me to the linked URL:

The series was removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, amidst a Disney+ and Hulu content removal purge as part of a broader cost cutting initiative under Disney CEO Bob Iger.

I’ve been abroad for a month and earned some time off afterwards. One of my kids reminded me that we never finished Willow, so I said “let’s do it now!” The show wasn’t perfect for many reasons, but I wanted to finish it for nostalgia’s sake and my child legit found it interesting. Lo and behold, the series isn’t on Disney+ any more!

A quick search later, I see the above referenced quote linking to the article associated with this post… which only made things worse. The Mysterious Benedict Society was something my whole family could watch and enjoy without arguments! Turner and Hooch was dorky, but something my youngest loved and it was a super safe and easy pick for us bond over.

This post isn’t about whether the shows are good. And it isn’t about how nearly every show I like ends up cancelled. The point is that I paid for access, they were then quietly removed (for various platforms), and I have zero understanding as to how this saves these companies money.

Would someone explain?

P. S. Yes, I know this is old news. However, this is just how I am. I’m not up to date with anything in the entertainment world. I intentionally wait a few seasons for things because I loath when shows are cancelled after a season. (I’m looking at you, Firefly.) I’m the same way with books, often waiting to read a trilogy after its published because I don’t like the wait in between books. (Thanks, Rothfuss).

I just don’t take cancellation wells, especially when I was on top of everything including summer podcasts and such. (Now anything with the names Abrams, Lindelof, or Cuse makes my skin crawl.)

I know. I’m weird and stuff.

  • Firipu@startrek.website
    40·
    1 year ago

    I’m not a specialist and I’m just guessing: licensing fees and streaming fees to the actors etc? Every view costs them a tiny bit of money. I guess over time it adds up. And from Disney’s pov those shows don’t bring in new subs or anything, so they only cost them money?

    Please correct me if I’m wrong.

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      My guess is that any fees or residuals are based on a time to stream, not a number of views.

      If residuals were only paid per view, you could have an underperforming show on and not really care that it underperforms. However, if you are paying per month, an underperforming show is not going to make the streamer money.

      • Barry Zuckerkorn@beehaw.org
        2·
        1 year ago

        The streamers are very protective of viewership numbers and even the show’s producers can’t get access to that information. So all the payment formulas are based on subscribers, not viewers. A show that nobody is watching is too expensive to carry.

    • ⓝⓞ🅞🅝🅔@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I figure it has to be along these lines, but I’m hoping for something concrete because it still doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

      Once published, I imagine a great many show and movies, especially older ones, bring in very limited money.

      I see your screen name and automatically think of Star Trek Prodigy, another show all my kids agreed on. These are a rarity. And then CBS decides to just make it poof? (Although I think I heard enough backlash might mean it stays after all?)

      I wish I could understand the specifics of this. I’m getting burnt out by these companies and understand why so many folks are just going back to pirating content.

      • skulblaka@kbin.social
        7·
        1 year ago

        Media executives in general can’t be trusted to act in anyone’s interest, even their own. Why did Game of Thrones get rushed out the door when the writers were approved for twice as many episodes and 3x as much budget as they used? Why did Witcher go from a universally beloved series to a dumpster fire based strictly on the ego of the directors? Why did Netflix drop all the shows anyone wanted to watch and is now full of first party garbage and literally nothing left that people want to see?

        Some of the answers to these questions must make sense in some perspective, but I’ll be damned if I know what that is. Each of these seems like they had very simple solutions that were ignored.