美国国家公共电台 NPR--Dozens of TV shows are disappearing from streaming platforms like HBO Max. Here's why

Dozens of TV shows are disappearing from streaming platforms like HBO Max. Here's why

Transcript¹

Dozens of original streaming shows have been removed from platforms in an apparent effort to cut costs. The disappearing shows may point to a more fundamental change in the business of streaming.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

Over the past year, dozens of TV shows have quietly disappeared from streaming platforms like HBO, Max and Paramount+. Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi of our Planet Money podcast looked into why.

ALEXI HOROWITZ-GHAZI, BYLINE²: A few years ago, Alissa Nutting got into TV at what felt like the perfect moment. All these new streaming platforms, hungry for content, were popping up to compete with Netflix, and one of them, HBO Max, offered Alissa's dystopian dark comedy show "Made For Love" a place to call home.

Were you an HBO stan?

ALISSA NUTTING: Oh, absolutely - "The Wire," "Sopranos," "True Detective."

HOROWITZ-GHAZI: And now "Made For Love."

NUTTING: Right. Yes. So it felt great.

HOROWITZ-GHAZI: Even when she found out the show would not be picked up for a third season, she took solace³ in the idea that her work would still stream on forever. So when, last December, she found out her show was being removed from the platform, she was perplexed⁴.

NUTTING: How does that make any sense? You know, like, if they have more shows on their streamer and things for people to watch, isn't it kind of, like, more money for them? And this just doesn't feel logical.

DAVID OFFENBERG: From a finance perspective, it's totally logical. There is a ruthless accounting⁵ at work here.

HOROWITZ-GHAZI: David Offenberg teaches film finance at Loyola Marymount University. He explains that last year, HBO, Max's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, went through a merger⁶ that left it around $50 billion in debt and desperate to cut costs. Offenberg says removing all these shows helped them do that in two ways. First...

OFFENBERG: HBO Max is trying to save on residuals⁷.

HOROWITZ-GHAZI: Streaming companies pay residuals to the writers and directors and actors of their original shows every year those shows stay on the platform. So by removing a show like "Made For Love," streamers could be saving millions. Their second motivation, David says, has to do with changes in the streaming business. For several years, platforms were battling for market share, making tons of new shows to win subscribers. But then last year, Netflix announced they'd lost subscribers for the first time in a decade.

OFFENBERG: That was the moment where the mentality⁸ in streaming switched from growth to maximizing revenue and minimizing costs.

HOROWITZ-GHAZI: All of a sudden, shows that weren't bringing in lots of new subscribers or helping⁹ to retain them started to look like costly¹⁰ liabilities unless, of course, someone else wanted to buy them.

OFFENBERG: So all of these shows that HBO Max has taken down represent a library of assets that could be sold.

HOROWITZ-GHAZI: In fact, big HBO shows like "Westworld" are already being licensed¹¹ out to ad-supported streaming services like Tubi. Though, so far, that hasn't happened for Alissa Nutting's show, "Made For Love." David Offenberg says what happened to her show is a sign of the times, as other platforms follow in HBO Max's footsteps.

OFFENBERG: I think the peak of streaming was 2021, where we had a ton of streaming services with a ton of great shows at low subscription¹² prices, and we are never going back to that.

HOROWITZ-GHAZI: The recent streaming golden age, where we've been served more Netflix than we could ever possibly chill to, may be coming to an end.

Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。

4 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

7 residuals   

剩余误差

参考例句：

• In some cases residuals from these arrivals will stack up to give nearly horizontal alignments. 在某些情况下，这些波至的残余会叠加在一起给出近于水平的同相轴。
• Strong oscillations can occur in the residuals as the number of terms is increased. 随着次数的增加，剩余时差会发生强烈的摆动。

8 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

12 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。