> 2 "Seasons" of a netflix show is not even 1 season of broadcast...
Yes, most streaming-first platforms use shorter seasons than is typical for US broadcast (but that was also often true of US cable, and is also true of, e.g., British broadcast.)
> That is part of their problem, and why the cancellations feel even more abrupt
Mid-season, especially first-season, cancellations on broadcast have always been a thing (as have soft-cancellations by moving—often multiple times in a season—to a less valued timeslot, especially when timeslots mattered more.)
> Mid-season, especially first-season, cancellations on broadcast have always been a thing
A TV or cable network canceling a show is very different from netflix doing it though. When a network cancels a show mid-season fans get pissed but the network removes that show from broadcast and replaces it with shows that do get full seasons and proper endings.
When netflix puts out an unfinished product by starting a show and then not finishing it, the fans get pissed, and it just sits like a giant turd in their library so that month after month and year after year more and more people will start the show, get to where it cuts off and also get angry that netflix wasted their time.
Even if a netflix show seems to under-perform, it's in netflix's best interest to make sure every story has some kind of conclusion because some percentage of subscribers will still be able to find value in it. A finished product is a win for their library.
Otherwise the unfinished show will just sit on their servers being forever unwatched by anyone aware that Netflix screwed the show's fans, or it becomes a trap that will only make anyone who does start it angry at netflix.
Netflix should either just commit to concluding any show they start, or remove any shows that get left without a conclusion from their library entirely (throwing away all of the money they invested)
Yes, most streaming-first platforms use shorter seasons than is typical for US broadcast (but that was also often true of US cable, and is also true of, e.g., British broadcast.)
> That is part of their problem, and why the cancellations feel even more abrupt
Mid-season, especially first-season, cancellations on broadcast have always been a thing (as have soft-cancellations by moving—often multiple times in a season—to a less valued timeslot, especially when timeslots mattered more.)