Sense8 cancellation: Netflix head Ted Sarandos comments on decision

At this point, Netflix itself has released a general statement regarding the cancellation of Sense8. They’ve seen the fan outcry, and realize that in many ways they’ve smashed the hearts of fans who really love the show and wish there was a way for it to continue.

Alas, that doesn’t quite mean that they have changed their minds at all. They seem to stand by the decision every bit as much as they once did, even though it was a fairly difficult one for them to make. For Ted Sarandos (a.k.a. Netflix’s chief content officer and the man behind many big decisions), he’s making it clear that the decision was absolutely financially motivated, much in the same way that it was for another recently-canceled show in The Get Down. Per The Hollywood Reporter at the recent Producers Guild of America’s Produced By Conference, here is what he had to say on the subject of the show ending:

“The audience was very passionate, but not large enough to support something that big, even on our platform.”

Basically, it’s what the thought about the show’s cancellation has been all along — if Sense8 episodes were cheaper to produce, maybe there was a way to bring the show back for a third season. The problem here is that you had a show that cost almost $9 million an episode, and that’s on the extreme end of some of television’s top-rated shows. It’s very hard to make successful television at around that price tag. Let’s say that there are a hundred million subscribers total (we know that number is wrong and internationally, probably low) — these people are effectively paying a dollar to make a season of the show, and many of them probably are not watching it. There are dozens of other original properties on Netflix that also need to get paid for, plus licensing of some other shows to air there. As you can see, this is where it all starts to get a little bit problematic.

We stand by the same thing we’ve said a number of times in the past, and we hope that someday there is an opportunity for someone, whether it is in the comic or the novel space, has a chance to expand on the Sense8 story and Netflix can license the show out for it then.

If you missed it, you can head over here to see the statement that the company put out already when it comes to the cancellation of the show. (Photo: Netflix.)