FX Boss Addresses Trend of Disappearing TV Shows, “Wouldn’t Rule Anything Out”

The past year has been a time of great change for the entertainment industry, as media companies try to navigate a new normal following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. For a few studios, that has involved taking away content in efforts to cut costs from their budgets, either through scrapping shows or films that were in the middle of productions, reversing renewals for new seasons, or taking existing content off of streaming services. These decisions have been made in spades by Warner Bros. Discovery and AMC Networks — and apparently the head of another major company is not ruling it out either. During an executive session at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, FX boss John Landgraf revealed that his company does not have “any specific plans” to make similar decisions, but they “wouldn’t rule anything out.”

“Making fewer, bigger, longer movies and marketing them and distributing them and licensing them had a better economic impact than just flooding the zone with things that are consumed and then discarded,” Landgraff added. “Film has had multiple windows. It’s figuring it out again. You just can’t take this infinite amount of money and dump it on something. For one thing, it gets stale.”

What shows has AMC cancelled?

In recent weeks, AMC Networks has axed several upcoming and in-production seasons of television, including the first seasons of Invitation to a Bonfire and Demascus, and second seasons of Pantheon, Moonhaven and 61st Street, most of which had already completed some or all of their production. AMC Networks boss Dan McDermott argued during his own company’s TCAs presentation that there are “too many shows,” and that the decisions were made to adapt to the behavior of audiences.

“As human behavior continues to evolve, our industry is experiencing an unrivaled period of reflection and correction,” McDermott explained. “Factors including rising inflation, challenging ad market, too many shows, and an over reliance on streaming metrics that don’t necessarily deliver profitability, have caused most content companies, including ourselves, to take stock and recalibrate their forward path. At AMC, we’ve taken critical steps so that going forward, we’re optimally positioned as a lean, progressive, forward facing organization, poised to take advantage of the myriad opportunities in the marketplace. We will continue to do what we do best, work with immensely talented creatives to make shows and build franchises that fans love and make a focal point of their lives.”

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