Ampere: Streaming Renewals Hit Record Levels in Q1

The global streamers are increasingly committing to returning series, Ampere Analysis has found, with renewals in the U.S. and the U.K. hitting record levels in Q1.

Of the 120-plus renewals announced by streamers last year in the U.S. and the U.K., 51 percent were in their fourth or later season, a 6 percent increase on 2020.

Ampere Analysis indicates that the renewal volume is being driven by Disney+ and discovery+. Netflix, meanwhile, increased its first-run commissions last year (8 percent more than 2020), but reduced its renewals by 2 percent. The study also found that unscripted titles were less likely to be canceled than their scripted counterparts. Unscripted represented 7 percent of canceled streamer series last year, and 54 percent of renewed ones.

“It has been suggested that streamers’ high rate of cancellation is purely due to their high rate of commissioning, where a large volume of titles are ordered with the expectation that only a handful of titles will succeed,” said Olivia Deane, senior analyst. “However, with an overall increase in the volume and proportion of returning VOD titles, streamers must strike a balance between committing to fresh new content and satisfying fans of existing titles in order to compete. For streaming newcomers like Disney+ and discovery+, which have well-established fan bases for key IP, it’s easier for commissioners to make long-term commitments to titles they know viewers will love. Streamers also need to compromise between pleasing fan bases of more expensive scripted titles from genres like sci-fi and fantasy, while making a range of unscripted content. The latter fleshes out their catalog with cheaper-to-make, easily digestible titles that can be very popular, and therefore represent a better return on investment.”