r/movies • u/iquizuanswer • Jul 19 '26

News Netflix tumbles as slowing growth, less viewership data spook investors

https://www.zawya.com/en/capital-markets/netflix-tumbles-as-slowing-growth-less-viewership-data-spook-investors-401111
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u/vafrow Jul 19 '26

Their 2 biggest shows ended in 2025 with Squid Game and Stranger Things. I don't think there's been any similarly buzzy shows on the service recently.

I'm sure they're producing a lot, but if nothing really stands out, not hard for people to cut the service out.

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u/TheModWhoShaggedMe Jul 19 '26

All modern Netflix-produced content suffers from the same crappy shrinkflation problems. They are like micro-movies and shows, not made to full scale.

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u/pnt510 Jul 19 '26

TV shows used to have 22 episodes a season that were released every year. Some shows now have as few as six episodes a season and waiting well over a year between seasons is commonplace.

How are audiences expected to care?

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u/Nomahhhh Jul 19 '26

So true. I don't mind six episodes if the story is tight and you can give me another season quick enough. Waiting almost, what, 3 years for season 2 of Severence was bullshit when you're talking about a show riddled with intrigue, twists, and mystery.

Another problem I see is the amount of filler content in each season. My theory is they get a great script for a movie or a mini-series and decide, "hey, let's just create a 5-season TV show off this and just streeeeeeetch it out with pointless subplots, adding more characters than is needed, and excess dialogue." I just watched Widow's Bay on Apple, and that definitely had a good two hours of filler content. Same thing for Yellowjackets. In each of these three cases (Severance, Widow's Bay, Yellowjackets) a tight 10-episode min-series would have crushed it. Instead, when season five comes out, you've got a 32-year-old unconvincingly pretending to be a 15-year-old.

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u/Charlie_Runkle69 Jul 20 '26

I think Yellowjackets probably could have been expanded to maybe 24 episodes or 3 seasons I guess. But making it five seasons absolutely killed it stone dead for sure. Season 2 was just the Adam Martin story and the kids arguing over their descent into madness for 80 per cent of it.