Why are streamers abandoning original shows before they’ve even premiered?

We all know that the success or failure of a TV show largely depends on ratings: if people don’t watch, it is likely to be cancelled. But why have recent months seen stories breaking increasingly regularly in the press of shows getting canned before they see the light of day?

The bottom line… is the bottom line

As always in TV, the issue is money. In order to avoid paying higher taxes, several streamers are finding that it is simply more cost-effective to cancel a new show – even one that has been completed – than show it and incur large tax bills. The mechanism is simple; if a show is not aired, the parent company’s value is reduced. Less value equals a smaller tax liability.

The quintessential examples of this is Disney Plus’ Captain Nemo origin story series Nautilus and fantasy reboot The Spiderwick Chronicles. The former was filmed in Australia as a big-budget series starring Star Trek: Discovery’s Shazad Latif among others, but in August the series was shelved shortly after completion. As per the Sydney Morning Herald, the intention is to attempt to sell the series to another streamer, though no such sale has been reported at the time of writing.

Which shows are affected?

Disney is not alone in taking this draconian approach to production. The list of series that have been casualties at other streamers includes Pantheon, AMC’s animated sci-fi series, which was axed in January despite the fact that the second series was already in the can. (The series was eventually sold to Prime, and drops next month.) Moreover, the Warner Brothers channel TBS pulled the second series of its sitcom Chad in 2021 before airing, citing a change to their policies towards creating original content, while the fourth and final season of TNT’s former show Snowpiercer also remains trapped in purgatory.