The Supposed Fall of Streaming
(Jenell Theobald/The Santa Clara)
As streaming platforms continue reshaping their strategies in 2026, audiences are seeing the effects firsthand: reduced budgets, year-long gaps between seasons, and tensions between studios and the artists behind some of the most successful series.
On “Inside Job”:
Premiering the first half of its season on Netflix in 2021, “Inside Job” is an adult animated comedy series produced by Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch and BoJack Horseman director Mike Hollingsworth.
The show follows Reagan Ridley and her team at the Illuminati as they work to hide the various conspiracies of the world.
It was the first adult animated series produced in-house by Netflix Animation, which, prior to 2021, had largely focused on children’s programming.
In 2022, the show proved popular enough that Netflix renewed it for a second season. The last eight episodes of season one didn’t hit Netflix’s standards for viewership, and the second season was canceled.
Fans were upset. The show had done very well critically, with a 79% critic score on the popular review website Rotten Tomatoes, and an even higher audience score of 92%.
Some fans were quick to blame Netflix for the cancellation, citing corporate greed and poor marketing.
“It’s a business. I would respect their decision except they NEVER ADVERTISED part II of season one. Not surprised the series completion rate is so low,” said Reddit user ecefour.
Professor Michael Whalen—who teaches various film courses at Santa Clara University and has a background in film—shared a different perspective on Netflix.
“Streamers are recognizing that they’ve built up their libraries. They can’t keep adding new productions the way they were during COVID because it isn’t profitable,” said Whalen. “People got used to shows being greenlit for three seasons, and the economics of the industry are forcing all of the networks to make harder decisions.”
On “Euphoria”:
Canceled shows aren’t the only controversies affecting the modern streaming landscape.
Premiering on HBO Max in 2019, “Euphoria” is an adult drama series starring the popular actress Zendaya. It took until 2022 to receive its second season, with season three finally releasing in April of this year.
Despite facing a few controversies, largely due to its subject matter, the show has generally been highly praised, earning over two dozen Emmy nominations and winning nine of them.
However, “Euphoria’s” most recent controversy has involved the producer of the score for the first two seasons: Labrinth.
Labrinth announced through a cryptic post on Instagram that he would not be producing music for season three, saying he “won’t let people treat him like shit.”
Labrinth’s departure has been noticed by fans, who feel that the tone of the show has been thrown off by the sudden change in musical direction.
“I don’t even remember if the music was good or bad this season because it was just so unmemorable, and I feel like it didn’t contribute to the show like Labrinth’s music did,” said Esha Patel ’26.
Whalen had a more nuanced take on the matter.
“One person has gone public about ‘Euphoria’, but the other side hasn’t really talked much. What happened? Who knows. When I read that kind of stuff, nine times out of ten it’s money. Someone wanted more money or more control,” said Whalen. “Labrinth’s fanbase is pissed off, but do they have the whole story?”
On “Invincible”:
In March 2021, Amazon Prime Video released the first season of its animated superhero show Invincible. The season consisted of eight episodes and was created by Robert Kirkman, the same visionary behind the original comic book the show is adapting.
Many fans were disappointed not to receive season two until two and a half years later, with the first half releasing in 2023 and concluding in 2024.
For better or worse, the show has managed to release eight episodes a year since season two ended, with season four concluding in April of this year.
This rapid-fire schedule has seemingly come at the expense of animation quality, with viewers pointing out instances of lower-quality animation alongside the casting of major voice actors for relatively minor characters.
“The several years that we waited for season two led me to believe that the animation quality would increase, but it has gone downhill drastically,” stated Ben Castillo ’27.
Castillo said he has been a fan of “Invincible” since before the show even aired and has read all 144 issues. He corroborated some of the chief concerns of Invincible fans.
“What is really annoying is that they do have good animation in certain episodes. They focus on animation far too late in the season, and rush the rest because they know people will enjoy it regardless,” said Castillo.
He further echoed what many online have said, directly criticizing Amazon for not providing such a popular show with a larger budget.
“Invincible just gets the most hate because it is so globally popular, and the company that makes it has billions of dollars at its disposal to help improve the quality, and simply does not,” said Castillo.
On “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”:
Following the titular Joestar family, “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” is an action anime that began airing in 2012 and has been gradually adapting the still-running 40-year-old manga series.
In August 2021, David Production, the studio behind the show, announced that Part Six of the series—”Stone Ocean”—would be released exclusively on Netflix in three different batches.
Gone was the hype for weekly “JoJo Fridays,” and many were concerned that Netflix’s acquisition would kill momentum for the franchise. Still, “Stone Ocean concluded”, with the final two episodes managing to score the highest ratings out of all 100+ episodes on IMDb.
Then, on March 29, 2026, Netflix released the first episode of “Part Seven: Steel Ball Run.” What was seemingly meant to be a small teaser for the future received a very unexpected reaction: fans were angry.
Despite receiving a 40-minute sneak peek into “Steel Ball Run’s” world, many were upset that Netflix was not communicating when the show would continue. Fans were left wondering whether it would continue weekly, release in batches, or return to a hiatus.
In a grand act of irony, Netflix’s lack of communication left many worried that hype would be more dulled than ever.
“This is so stupid why is Netflix doing this, it’s gonna kill most of the hype again,” said user Reasonable-Way5482 on Reddit.
Finally, fears were somewhat quelled a week later when Netflix issued a statement.
“The next cour (2nd STAGE) will begin streaming in fall 2026 on Netflix, with one new episode released each week. This release schedule is part of our original plan and reflects the wishes of the production committee,” Netflix announced.
In the end, it seems Netflix simply made a marketing mistake and added fuel to the fire with poor communication.
“Their plan all along was to show a teaser to satisfy audiences, and then release weekly in the fall. You can argue that their message isn’t getting out there. Do they need to do a better job with PR? I’m sure every television company can do a better job with PR,” said Whalen.
On Streaming:
According to Whalen, all of these recent controversies are due to the fact that the landscape of television is changing.
“Honestly, it’s back to what television was before cable and streaming. Shows were on much shorter leashes in order to be successful, and that’s what showing. It’s a return to normal for the industry,” said Whalen.
“That COVID era was called ‘peak TV’ for a reason. It’s the exact same thing that happened in the 90s when cable exploded, and cable networks realized we had 24/7 to fill,” said Whalen. “So all of a sudden they started producing more and more and more products. Eventually, they reached a level where they were like ‘ok we have a library now’, that’s fine.”
As streaming enters a new phase of contraction and recalibration, the industry appears to be settling into a reality where tighter budgets and higher expectations are redefining how—and how often—stories get told.