You ever wonder why bombshell shows like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Get Down or any of the other shows get cancelled after 2 or 3 seasons? Charlie Ridgely at comicbook.com writes:
To put it plainly: New shows are cheaper. When a series launches, everyone involved gets paid a certain amount of money. After two seasons of that series being considered a success and being enjoyed by fans, it’s usually time for new contracts with a pay bump for those involved. Sounds fair, right?
Well, for Netflix, the costs of those raises aren’t exactly worth the return of the show’s traffic. The third season of a series will see dedicated fans tuning in, but likely doesn’t have the same return as a new show that everyone can start from the beginning.
To put it another way — Netflix doesn’t care about current subscribers. They have pivoted their efforts to growth. New shows attract new subscribers.
Like trimming a growing sapling, Netflix is surgically kicking off new shows, and canceling them a la carte. Which really sucks. But the alternative is pilot-producing which can be even more costly, can ruin careers, and often never makes it to public airing.