MrGreencastle
Member
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 
Ok, Netflix, step up!
Ok, Netflix, step up!
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
NBC Cancels Hannibal after 3 Seasons. Show will now be shopped around at other venues
- Thread starter Verger
- Start date
- Status
Mushroomer25
Member
Kind of an inevitable end, but I still feel NBC did this show a massive disservice. I appreciate they kept it running for three low-rate seasons, but a lack of solid promotion ensured it would stay obscure. Why weren't past seasons added to Netflix, a platform rich with the sort of audience that appreciates high end TV? Why wasn't the show promoted alongside things like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, or other prestige dramas? Why push the show to summer, confusing even diehard fans?
My gamble is that Amazon picks it up as an original. That's it's current streaming home, and apparently does well on their service. Plus, it's got a steady international international audience.
My gamble is that Amazon picks it up as an original. That's it's current streaming home, and apparently does well on their service. Plus, it's got a steady international international audience.
lastflowers
Banned
time for Netflix or Yahoo to pick it up. One of the most surreal, haunting, and beautiful shows I've ever seen.
NBC doesn't negotiate the streaming rights. The studio (Gaumont) does. And they probably got a better deal with Amazon. Also, what does "promoted alongside things like Mad Men or Breaking Bad" mean? Like, promote the show as if it was a prestige drama? They did that. They even had a promo (that they ran a lot before this season premiered) about how critically well received the show was. NBC probably promoted this season more than they had promoted any season since the first.
I really just don't think there's a wide market for this type of show.
BannedEpisode
Member
Id assume this will be an easy pickup for Amazon Prime.
BannedEpisode
Member
I could see how people might not be hooked by the first season of Hannibal. It is slow, and gets side tracked in the first season's attempt to be procedural.
The second season is legitimately amazing though. There is no accounting for tastes but I'd be hard pressed to ever concede that it isn't masterclass when it comes to art direction, mood setting, camera work, and how beautifully weird it gets.
The second season is legitimately amazing though. There is no accounting for tastes but I'd be hard pressed to ever concede that it isn't masterclass when it comes to art direction, mood setting, camera work, and how beautifully weird it gets.
Mushroomer25
Member
As for the streaming rights, totally fair. It was the studio's mistake in partnering with Amazon. I whole believe that much like Doctor Who, making past seasons available on that service would've massively boosted popularity for the show leading into the next season.
As for "marketing alongside prestige dramas", I meant buying ad time on those shows. Get this show in the faces of that audience - by any means necessary. Forgive me for not knowing, but where was NBC running that Season 3 ad?
This type of show is booming elsewhere on the TV landscape - the fault is elsewhere. And it doesn't need to be a massive hit, just not a complete ratings black hole.
Candeldandel
Member
What's the norm? Low norm, even?
Assuming that those absurdly low numbers are correct, it sort of leads credence to the licensing issue story. Gaumont might have wanted someone to go to bat for the SotL TV Rights, NBC didn't want to put in the money or effort and Gaumont took their ball and went home. That's the only point where this makes sense.
metalslimer
Member
So it seems there is at least a decent chance the show gets picked up. I just want to see season 4
Anton Sugar
Member
So sounds like Fuller wants to come back as showrunner, but really can't wait around forever? Hope a deal is made before he commits to something else.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
I'll send them a big heart.
didn't ratsky say about S1 that it basically 'almost free' in terms of financing?
I think you nailed it.
Actually, I guess there was no issue with Clarice. Nothing to do with it.
NBC is just dum. Literally free money.
Candeldandel
Member
Devastated. Someone please save this...
I need Will to remain on my TV.
Seriously. /sad dreamy sigh
Yep... Will my bb ;_;
Maybe NBC really thinks they can hit pay dirt with a new drama in a freed up slot. Given their history, that's a really dumb thing to think. Even at low ratings, as cheap as Hannibal is for them I don't see a way for them to really lose much due to opportunity costs.
If those numbers are correct, there's almost no way someone doesn't pick this back up. It basically means NBC had no appreciable impact on funding the show.
I feel like I'm missing something. Can you elaborate for the slow-witted (me)?
Yeah, this is odd. NBC must've been really unhappy with how it was performing, despite it being their most well-reviewed and acclaimed show in years. The more info that comes out, the more this seems like an incredibly poor move. This was their prestige show, and they were getting a pretty good deal out of it too, but it wasn't enough I guess.
This was really the only show I watched on NBC aside from Parks and Community. Now there's nothing to keep me watching.
Candeldandel
Member
Wowwwww, that is... really fuckin' low. Goddamn. Thanks for sharing
It's a bummer how everything eventually comes down to numbers, but after all this, I can see how it'd change everything What a massive bummer.Aside from asking for the licensing fee to be bumped back up heading into season four, I'm not sure how Gaumont would have a standing to ask NBC to buy away SotL rights and hand them over or sublicense it over to Gaumont. That would certainly be a complicated, odd transaction. I have a hard time believing that played any direct, or even really indirect, role in NBC's decision.
It's probably just an opportunity cost issue, and someone wants/needs to be seen acting on a primetime show doing .5 in the demo.
It's probably just an opportunity cost issue, and someone wants/needs to be seen acting on a primetime show doing .5 in the demo.
A reporter from THR reported that the cancellation had something to do with the Clarice rights, which apparently is not true one bit.
Hannibal costs NBC about 185,000 an episode to license from Gaumont. To put that into perspective, the average network drama will cost a network anywhere from 1.8 - 3 million an episode (something like, say, Chicago Fire or The Blacklist). Your average cable show (average, not something like Mad Men) will run from about 1.3 - 1.5 million an episode to license.
Hannibal didn't come close to that. It cost $185,000 an episode. It could be literally only be watched by one crazy person in Iowa and it still would be making money for NBC. Which is why canceling it is very weird and why it's so likely another distributor will step up.
Angelina? She's fine
That's good.
With 10 episodes to go, and the intent to air them all, there has to be something else going on. Announcing the cancelation this early pretty much kills off the possibility of a ratings improvement over the rest of the season.
Hannibal is basically completely made and funded by an international production company, Gaumont, who then licenses it to stations around the world. The numbers being quoted that NBC paid are absurdly low. Like, so low it's pretty much costing them nothing. Even at low ratings, the profit they're likely making on showing it should be good enough to not cancel it.
Candeldandel
Member
We need more bbs like Will
Clearly he is the OG bb, but, if there were more bbs on tv like he, we would all be happier for it l o l/cries into hands
Mr. Pointy
Member
How many ad slots does $185k buy on Hannibal?
We need more bbs like Will
/cries into hands
Ah. I was confused because you'd just quoted yami saying:
And agreed with that idea. And then kirblar quoted him saying that he also thought he was right, and then you quoted kirblar saying actually that was probably wrong, so I wasn't sure what had changed in the intervening three minutes.
Now the change makes sense, though. Thanks. <3
Gchat answers.
BertramCooper
Banned
I'm gonna save up and buy an episode of Hannibal all for myself.
a secret-boss
Banned
it's NBC and the slow pace (lots of scene panning) didn't help the show.
Heroes Reborn is likely be cancelled too.
I wonder if this will go to Amazon Prime. If Amazon is even interested
Heroes Reborn is likely be cancelled too.
I wonder if this will go to Amazon Prime. If Amazon is even interested
Candeldandel
Member
So even if it cost NBC basically nothing and would still make money, why would they cancel it? Why would they cancel it and tell us RIGHT NOW, only three episodes into the season, instead of letting us watch our show and then tell us the bad news then? Is there a strategy to this or...? I'm so confused I wish we could've watched the season without thinking "Is this the end? Will it get picked up?" :\
I wish we could've watched the season without thinking "Is this the end? Will it get picked up?" :\I think syndication is where you really make the big bucks in television, and I doubt NBC with the 185k investment per an episode were getting a lot on the backend.
I think most television is profitable on the major networks, and just being a little profitable is not enough for them.
Using a forum thread as basically a slow chatroom tends to make things bit confusing, haha.
I have read an article elsewhere arguing that these limited series events like X-Files and Heroes were basically just moves to get more out of streaming rights. They make one small new thing and they can charge a huge amount for streaming rights because "complete" shows do better than incomplete ones and interest in the show is all of a sudden renewed. The limited run series themselves aren't meant to make money or stick around.
And if those numbers are offered elsewhere, no way someone like Amazon doesn't pick it up.
Candeldandel
Member
OMG YES WE SHOULD POOL MONEY! That would be AH.MAY.ZING.
"This season on Hannibal, brought to you by NeoGAF..."
- Status