The era of peak TV appears to be well and truly in the rear-view mirror, as tighter budgets resulted in fewer brand-new series being commissioned in the US in 2024. Show Tracker reveals the main services responsible for this reduction in new scripted series.
Most of the rise in scripted commissions in the years immediately following the COVID drop in 2020 can be attributed to studio-owned streaming services, which not only diverted resources away from their traditional Free TV and Pay TV networks as commissioners but also invested more in the streaming arms race to ensure they had more content than their rapidly expanding list of competitors.
The most recent peak in 2022 for new US commissions aligns with the same peak for studio SVOD commissions, with Disney alone (represented by both Hulu and Disney+) accounting for almost half of the 56 studio SVOD titles commissioned that year (17 Hulu titles, 10 Disney+ titles). Since then, SVOD commissions from Disney have fallen year on year, with 2024 seeing just 12 new titles commissioned (seven for Hulu, five for Disney+). Warner, meanwhile, has always maintained a level of support for HBO linear, as inevitably all titles there become de facto Max Originals as well. In 2022, this was split almost evenly between the two (eight Max commissions, seven HBO commissions), but in 2024, HBO linear took the majority of commissions, with six titles made for the channel and only three premiering exclusively on their SVOD.
While the reduction in global SVOD (Netflix, Amazon, Apple) commissions at first glance appears to be less dramatic, a closer examination by service reveals a bigger shift in commissioning dynamics within the Silicon Valley streamer space.
Apple TV+ has maintained its level of 14–15 commissions per year since 2022, while Amazon’s drop from its peak of 14 new series in 2022 has been only marginal, falling to 12. It is Netflix that has reduced its new US commissions the most, premiering just over half the number of titles in 2023 compared to its 2022 peak. Show Tracker data has already revealed that Netflix is increasingly looking to third parties to acquire more titles to supplement its originals, even turning to second-window titles to do so.
Co-productions in the US across all types of services are also down, with 2024 seeing no collaborations between Netflix, Amazon, or Apple and international commissioners on new series. However, 2024 saw studio-owned SVOD, Pay TV, and even Free TV services in the US collaborate with UK commissioners on eight new titles, while Canadian commissioners partnered with The CW on two new series (Wild Cards from CBC and Sight Unseen from CTV) and with FOX on another (Murder in a Small Town from Global TV).
With major services scaling back original commissions, the competitive landscape is shifting, potentially setting the stage for a greater reliance on third-parties for scripted content to appear on global SVODs like Netflix. As budgets tighten potentially even further, we may see commissioners look to established IP even more than they currently are as a major factor in green-lighting future projects.
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