Starz CEO On Developing Replacements For Shows As They Become More Expensive After 3-4 Seasons
Starz CEO On Developing Replacements For Shows As They Become More Expensive After 3-4 Seasons
Starz CEO talks managing content costs with new series to offset expensive longer running ones.
“When seasons go from one to two to three to four [seasons], three to four is where the cost really pops because most of the actors get bigger raises, and you have to really manage that. So, you have to have in your portfolio of development shows that can actually replace shows as they get into later seasons,” he said at a Deutsche Bank media conference today, providing one of the most blunt assessments of a practice introduced by Netflix and embraced by other streamers where shows produced under the Cost Plus model are often canceled after 3-4 seasons when they get too expensive.
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Most shows would be fine at a three season order. Maybe don’t beat the dead horse with a fourth season and save yourself some money. The additional advantage being that the series has a clear, planned ending which works better for streaming back catalogs.
If they write shows that have stories that neatly wrap up at the end of 3 seasons then it’s better for everyone. Nobody needs another Greys Anatomy that goes for 22 seasons beating a dead horse year after year.
The Good Place was a great example of this. From the beginning they knew they wanted 4 seasons, and wrote the show to end after 4. No need for anything more
true, but if it was on any other network it would probably have been cancelled after season 3.
Or Netflix after one.