Scripted TV output within the U.S. dropped sharply in 2023, because of a mixture of dual Hollywood strikes and a pullback on content material spending, in response to a brand new research from analysis agency Ampere Evaluation.
Within the U.S., the variety of scripted collection launched final yr dropped 24%, to a complete of 481. That’s down from 633 in every of 2021 and 2022 — which can have been the apex years for “Peak TV.” In response to Ampere, due to the time lag between collection being greenlit and their premieres, the quantity is unlikely to rise in 2024.
The majority of the decline in 2023 was attributable to subscription streaming providers releasing 77 fewer seasons than the prior yr and broadcast TV networks releasing 55 fewer seasons. Broadcast releases have been falling slowly for a few years, however the drop in 2023 may principally be attributed to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, delaying many new scripted seasons on broadcast TV to a midseason begin in January and February 2024.
The potential for truncated ’23-’24 seasons doubling up with full ’24-’25 seasons beginning within the fall could produce a brief bounce in seasons launched on broadcast in 2024, which was a phenomenon noticed in 2021 following the height of the COVID pandemic, in response to Ampere.
“Whereas 2024 will see some degree of a bounce-back within the content material being ordered, many of those titles shall be launched in 2025, which means any restoration is more likely to be sluggish going,” stated Fred Black, principal analyst at Ampere Evaluation.
Netflix lowered its releases from 107 in 2022 to 68 in 2023 — a drop that started within the first half of 2023, so the streamer’s pullback can’t solely be blamed on the strikes. Different reductions got here at Peacock (20 fewer titles), Hulu (11), Max (9) and Paramount+ (4). As well as, whereas different gamers like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Disney+ roughly maintained the variety of collection they launched in 2023, solely Prime Video maintained the collection it ordered, which implies that 2024 shall be even lighter for nearly all the key subscription streamers.
In the meantime, the general TV pipeline is skewing towards worldwide exhibits quite than these from the U.S. on main American subscription-based streaming providers, per Ampere. After 2023’s cutbacks on the prime eight subscription VOD suppliers, there have been 295 new worldwide exhibits (down from 429) in contrast with 202 new U.S. commissions (down from 342). “The strikes are partly the trigger but in addition conceal the broader story of internationalization and the decentering of Hollywood because the core of the world’s TV business,” the analysis agency stated.
Pictured above: Netflix’s “Beef” starring Ali Wong, Steven Yeun
