As the pandemic drags on, new shows are harder to come by for streaming services; report: the number of originals Netflix released so far in '21 is down 12% YoY
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg : Tweets: @patrickvons , @raju , and @lucas_shaw See also Mediagazer Tweets: @patrickvons : The major streaming services are starting to run out of shows. There is only so much in the pre-Covid cupboard to release and now productions are slow. Meanwhile there's a backlog of cinema releases that'll keep big screen occupied...https://www.linkedin.com/ ... https://www.bloomberg.com/... Raju Narisetti / @raju : The pandemic has finally caught up with Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services, which are all releasing fewer shows so far this year. Will it hurt their growth? https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @business Lucas Shaw / @lucas_shaw : For the first time in a long time, Netflix is releasing fewer shows than it was a year ago. Hulu, HBO Max and Amazon are all light on new shows right now too. https://www.bloomberg.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
The 2021 slate squeeze is the hangover from the pandemic's opening act: in April 2020 Netflix posted 15.77M paid net additions on locked-down demand while its long-term content pipeline let it keep premiering new originals, with a plan to launch 59 original shows in July 2020 from the pre-Covid cupboard. A year on, Bloomberg reports that cupboard is emptying faster than productions can refill it — Netflix's year-to-date originals are down 12%, and per Lucas Shaw the shortage hits Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and Amazon alike.
The arc matters because this is the moment streaming's volume engine first stalled; the same pattern recurs later, when streamers cut costs and scrap shows at record rates in 2022, Netflix releases about 16% fewer originals in 2023 than 2022, and its grip on the most-watched shows slides from over 80% toward half by 2025.
First-order effects
- Subscribers acquired during the 2020 surge now face thinner new-release calendars across Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and Amazon, raising churn risk exactly as theatrical reopenings give them an alternative.
Second-order effects
- With originals scarce, competition shifts to library depth and to whatever cinema backlog reaches home platforms — pricing and bundling pressure builds on services whose value proposition was a steady drip of new exclusives.
Third-order effects
- If production constraints persist, the industry pivots from maximizing title volume to culling catalogs for margin — a shift later visible in record show cancellations, a smaller 2023 slate, and eroding dominance of top-10 charts.
The trend: Streaming is moving from a content-volume arms race toward curated, margin-conscious slates, with pandemic-era supply shocks marking the peak of the originals boom.