Broadcast networks renewed 65% of their 2025 output, while major subscription video-on-demand services renewed only 44%, according to a new report from data intelligence firm Luminate. The gap challenges the streaming-era assumption that online platforms are the safer long-term home for scripted programming.
Luminate says broadcast has structural advantages: tighter budget ranges, fixed programming slots, straightforward viewership data and a seasonal calendar that forces renewal decisions faster. Streaming’s higher content volume and looser timing can leave shows in limbo indefinitely. Netflix’s The Politician, for example, has not aired since 2020 and still has no formal status announcement.
Renewal rates vary by platform
Netflix had the highest renewal rate among major SVODs, averaging about 50% of its U.S. slate from 2022 to 2025. Even so, streaming cancellations land harder because the base of new titles is so large. Freshman series represented about 42% of U.S. scripted output across major streamers in 2025, a sign that platforms are correcting after years of oversupply.
Retention is the working benchmark
Luminate suggests 50% audience retention as the key streaming benchmark: at least half of first-episode viewers reach the finale. But several series cleared that bar and still did not survive.
- Wonder Man (Disney+): 52% 12-week retention; initially renewed for a second season, then canceled months later.
- On Call (Prime Video): exceeded the 50% benchmark and was dropped.
- The Waterfront (Netflix): 62% 12-week retention, the highest of the three, and was still dropped.
Thresholds differ by service. Apple TV+ appears to accept lower retention for prestige titles. The Studio held just 28% over 120 days, below The Last Frontier, which Luminate identifies as the most-watched canceled series on that streamer in the last year or so. Peacock also operates at a lower bar; The Copenhagen Test was its most-watched canceled series with 33% retention.
Read the renewal signal carefully
For media planners and entertainment marketers, renewal is not a simple demand verdict. A show with strong completion can still be canceled if cost per retained viewer misses the platform’s internal economics. Meanwhile, lower-retention prestige titles may survive because they support subscriber acquisition or brand positioning.
Unscripted carries the most renewal risk. Despite hits like The Traitors, Dancing with the Stars and Love Island, only about 38% of unscripted streaming series were renewed from 2022 to 2025. That makes format investments more fragile than scripted bets across most major platforms.
Source: Deadline
