Sci Fi TV Network Scorecard: Netflix

Network Scorecard: Scoring the networks based on their history of airing and supporting sci fi and fantasy television shows.

Network Overview

Netflix got its start in the late ’90s as a DVD-by-mail rental service. It grew from a small player in the rental market to a major force (eventually making video rental stores nearly extinct), and then in 2007 it expanded into streaming. At first it streamed acquired movies and TV series, though by 2013 Netflix made the move to producing original scripted shows starting with the much-acclaimed House of Cards.  (Technically, 2012’s Lilyhammer came first, but that was a Norwegian-American production that ran exclusively on Netflix in the U.S.) The streamer’s output was minimal at first, but by the mid-2010s it had ramped up its originals and expanded to worldwide production. Since the 2012-13 season, Netflix has put out over 190 new original scripted series focused on the U.S. market, more than double what any one of the broadcast networks put out over the same timeframe. As far as sci fi and fantasy shows, the streamer has released 62 since the 2012-13 season, also far exceeding any of the broadcast nets. And those numbers are even higher when international productions are factored in.

What Type of Sci Fi Shows Does the Network Air?

Netflix’s output of sci fi and fantasy shows has been all across the board since its first, rather modest, genre entry Hemlock Grove premiered in 2013. More supernatural/horror entries would follow like The Haunting and Locke & Key. It has done straight sci fi such as Altered Carbon and Lost in Space. It has produced superhero shows like Daredevil and the other MCU entries along with The Umbrella Academy. It has ventured into fantasy with The Witcher and Warrior Nun. It has picked up shows from other networks like Black Mirror and Lucifer. It has done Anime like Castlevania and Pacific Rim: The Black. And it has thrown out some genre-bending shows like Sense8 and The OA. And the streamer has also been involved with notable international productions like The Dark (Germany), The Rain (Denmark), and 3% (Brazil). (Note that the international shows are not factored into the scorecard, more on that below.)

What Shows Are Measured in the Scorecard?

As mentioned above, Netflix has a vast output of scripted originals which includes global productions. For the purpose of this scorecard, though, I am not including the latter. The international shows may have other distribution deals that impact their fate, and quite frankly it is difficult to keep up with all of them and determine which ones truly count as a Netflix original. I am also excluding most of the shows that skew to a younger audience and that would air on daytime television on one of the broadcast networks or cable channels. (Though I am making some exceptions for more well-known genre properties like Voltron: Legendary Defender). So primarily I am focusing on the more adult and/or family oriented shows that are Netflix’s equivalent to Prime Time broadcasting and that are focused primarily on the U.S. audience. That encompasses nearly two hundred scripted shows and offers a good sampling of the streamer’s content.

How Quick is the Network to Cancel Sci Fi Shows?

Netflix does not cancel sci fi and fantasy shows more often than the scripted entries in its general population, but it has been a whole lot quicker at cancelling all of its shows over the past few seasons. Since the streamer started producing scripted programming in the 2012-13 season, 30.2% of genre shows have been cancelled after one season, just slightly below the 30.6% rate for all scripted shows. If you narrow that to the first five years of the streamer’s output, only 5% of genre shows were cancelled after one season (one out of 21). That was lower than the general population during that same timeframe which saw a still low cancellation rate of 14%. But since the 2018-19 season, 50% of sci fi and fantasy shows have been cancelled after one season with 47% of all shows getting the ax after one year. So after several years of allowing shows to go at least two seasons if not more, Netflix’s cancellation is much closer to that of the Big Four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) for the last three seasons.

Netflix New Scripted Programming 2012-13 Season thru 2020-21 Season

Does the Network Have a Three-to-Four Season Wall?

While Netflix originals had a good chance of surviving past their first season early on, rarely have those shows lasted longer than four seasons. Some of the earliest Netflix originals like House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, and Bojack Horseman survived for six seasons or more, but very few beyond that have lasted longer than four seasons. Netflix has a strategy to churn through originals at a pretty fast pace because new shows tend to drive more subscribers to the service than returning ones. Just as the broadcast networks typically see viewership drop for shows in subsequent seasons after their first, diminishing returns on new subscribers impacts streaming entries. In addition, Netflix has a cost-plus model for its shows where it pays more for each new season. So it has a disincentive to bring back shows seeing as they cost more and bring in fewer new subs. So far, the only genre entries that have lasted longer than four seasons on Netflix have been animated shows. Voltron: Legendary Defender had eight seasons and The Dragon Prince has been renewed through a seventh season. Stranger Things might make it to a fifth season, and it is possible that The Witcher or Black Mirror could break the four-season wall (the first two seasons of the latter are not factored in as they aired on Channel 4). But no other sci fi/fantasy show from the streamer has lasted longer than four seasons, nor does it appear any non-animated entry is on track to exceed that at this point. Of the 190+ shows that I tracked for this analysis, only ten total will have gone for five seasons or more. That is 6% of the streamer’s shows whereas the broadcast networks typically have about 12% of their shows lasting for five seasons or more.

Network Score

I give Netflix a score of 2 on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest). That would have been at least a point higher a few years back when the cancellation rate was lower, but the streamer has been much quicker to cancel the last few years. And that includes highly-watched shows like Jupiter’s Legacy, The Irregulars, and Away. In addition, Netflix’s churn strategy and three to four season wall limits the chances that a show will have a lengthy run and fails to reward loyal viewership. Short runs for a show are not necessarily a bad thing, and plenty of sci fi and fantasy shows could have benefited from less padding. But the Netflix strategy is not necessarily in sync with the creative side of the shows. For example, The OA creators planned a five-season run for the show, but that tenure is unlikely for almost any show on the streamer. So while Netflix offers plenty of choices for genre fans, don’t get attached to any one show because it could get yanked quite quickly, and at best it will stick around for four seasons and a max of forty episodes.

List of Sci Fi/Fantasy Originals

This is a list of the scripted sci fi and fantasy shows that have debuted on Netflix since it began producing original content. This does not include foreign productions, and the season count for shows that were picked up like Black Mirror and Lucifer only reflects those produced by the streamer.  Shows that have had their final season announced liked Lucifer and Lost in Space are counted as ended in this list. For renewed shows, the upcoming confirmed season is counted.

More from CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Sci Fi TV Update posts on Fridays. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site  for breaking news and updates.

Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.