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.

  • @trustnoone
    2•10 months ago

    Many companies have to pay a publisher rights for their show, which may or may not go onto paying other actors and companies and other stuff. This is much lower if you own the show. Hence why Netflix will have their own shows that don’t disappear. Or Disney plus will keep Disney owned shows.

    But some examples are:

    • you are an avid watcher, you’ve seen these shows, so to retain you, companies will cycle out long standing shows for others (use the money for new stuff)
    • Company is paying a lot for 1 show when they could diverse (or the other way) to get a more popular show to drive in traffic or cheaper shows that drive more traffic.
    • company would rather drop the money going to the publisher and spend it for their own new show that they pay less ongoing cost for
    • if a company has a hard year, they may just not pay publishers for as many shows so their books look better and they make some money to invest in innovation/shows
    • some CEO’s look at companies differently. They join a company, they cut costs saving 10mil by not paying publishers. They then pocket 5mil as a ceo saying they saved so much money. Then they move onto their next company. And the company pays for the show to come back again.
    • chaogomu
      3•10 months ago

      You missed the Tax write-off. Through some creative accounting, a company can remove something from streaming, claim the service is now less valuable, and save money on their taxes.