Would you all explain to me how removing content we expect to have access to is a "cost savings" measure?
The following is from the Willow Wikipedia page, which led me to the linked URL:
The series was removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, amidst a Disney+ and Hulu content removal purge as part of a broader cost cutting initiative under Disney CEO Bob Iger.
I've been abroad for a month and earned some time off afterwards. One of my kids reminded me that we never finished Willow, so I said "let's do it now!" The show wasn't perfect for many reasons, but I wanted to finish it for nostalgia's sake and my child legit found it interesting. Lo and behold, the series isn't on Disney+ any more!
A quick search later, I see the above referenced quote linking to the article associated with this post... which only made things worse. The Mysterious Benedict Society was something my whole family could watch and enjoy without arguments! Turner and Hooch was dorky, but something my youngest loved and it was a super safe and easy pick for us bond over.
This post isn't about whether the shows are good. And it isn't about how nearly every show I like ends up cancelled. The point is that I paid for access, they were then quietly removed (for various platforms), and I have zero understanding as to how this saves these companies money.
Would someone explain?
P. S. Yes, I know this is old news. However, this is just how I am. I'm not up to date with anything in the entertainment world. I intentionally wait a few seasons for things because I loath when shows are cancelled after a season. (I'm looking at you, Firefly.) I'm the same way with books, often waiting to read a trilogy after its published because I don't like the wait in between books. (Thanks, Rothfuss).
I just don't take cancellation wells, especially when I was on top of everything including summer podcasts and such. (Now anything with the names Abrams, Lindelof, or Cuse makes my skin crawl.)
I know. I'm weird and stuff.
This one seems a different case. You have Lost which was written as it was being filmed and then you have one of the best single season shows of all time a decade later with Watchmen (series). He never planned it past the first season and it didn't need to be, which I quite prefer to, say, dragging out a show for 4 more seasons.
As for why things get removed - contracts for the rights and the cost of them. I need to go to be so in short, companies can leverage the popularity of their shows. Whatever network for Gray's Anatomy for example is exempt from all "Ad-Free" Hulu plans, because ABC or whatever's network contract with Hulu specified they'd still shows ads. Fox contracted the streaming rights for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia which lapsed in 2017, so Fox Century owned by Disney which owns Hulu and FX then were able to keep IASIP on Hulu alone (except for outside the U.S. where it's on Disney+...)
The most recent absurdity is formerly HBO formerly HBO Max now just Max having removed over around 30+, mostly animated, shows many of which were originals and are now no longer available anywhere.
I suggest looking into the cost of an Intel Quicksync server and a couple hundred for some high capacity hard drives and setting yourself up a media server. I like to support the content actively coming out, but I can't trust and rely on those to always be there. They aren't accessible if the internet is down or if there's a password mishap, but my server is up as long as there's power running.
Ugh. I used to host my own content for years. I stopped for a number of reasons and I just... don't wanna anymore? Haha. I host and run enough services as it is.
Like so many folks, I can access any show I want at anytime. This includes Willow mentioned above. And yes, we will still watch it. It simply won't be via Disnley+ now. Thr point is that I want to to pay for these services and then they make these decisions which make it so hard. Agghhhh. 😖
That's the same conclusions many people are coming around to, unfortunately. We hoped streaming was the answer to the cable problem but... money talks and we're kinda back where we started.
Yeah, and with the rising costs and decreasing library available with the streaming platforms, piracy is setting a huge resurgence.
I was on the fence between paying for a debrid service or self hosting; decided to try debrid since it has a much lower cost in hardware and time to set up. So far, very happy with the service. It's a bit jankier than Netflix, since I need to manually select the file quality each time and it didn't auto play, but for ¼ the cost of a single streaming platform, it's worth it.
Plus, it has everything that's at all popular. I've only had difficulty with rare old movies.