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Syfy has canceled the Expanse, but its producers want to find it a new home

arstechnica.com

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Re: Syfy has canceled the Expanse, but its producers want to find it a new home

#3

Post by dfischer »

Wow that makes me sad. I think it’s the best sci-fi I’ve seen as of late. It’s crazy to me to think syfy wouldn’t move forward with it. Maybe it’s for the better though; their brand has been significantly tarnished over the years. It would be amazing if AMC would pick it up. I think it fits with Into the badlands and their general feel.

Re: Syfy has canceled the Expanse, but its producers want to find it a new home

#5

Post by s2g »

dfischer wrote: post #3

Wow that makes me sad. I think it’s the best sci-fi I’ve seen as of late. It’s crazy to me to think syfy wouldn’t move forward with it. Maybe it’s for the better though; their brand has been significantly tarnished over the years. It would be amazing if AMC would pick it up. I think it fits with Into the badlands and their general feel.

ehhhh AMC can be kind of awful.

Re: Syfy has canceled the Expanse, but its producers want to find it a new home

#6

Post by skellera »

Come on Netflix! This show is such a hidden gem. It needs a company that can really push it and make it as good as it can be.

The world of the show and books is such a great look at a possible not long off future. A lot of sci-fi is much further ahead or not as far.

Re: Syfy has canceled the Expanse, but its producers want to find it a new home

#7

Post by gamblor956 »

SyFy's not at fault here. They don't produce The Expanse, they only have limited first-run distribution rights in the US and Canada. The producer, Alcon, retains all other rights to the show.

The Expanse is the most expensive TV show that isn't Game of Thrones--estimates are that each episode is approximately 70% of the average cost of GOT, which is currently the most expensive TV show in production. However, ratings-wise, it's not even the most popular show on SyFy, so the advertising revenue isn't that great for the channel. The low revenue, combined with the lack of alternative revenue streams (i.e., digital streaming rights, foreign distribution rights, etc.) means that the show has been a major money loser for SyFy and is one of the reasons that Comcast's cable unit has been underperforming the past 3 years. Alcon also decided to make the distribution rights even more restrictive when they came up for renewal this spring, meaning even less potential revenue for SyFy.

Rather than brand your pitchforks at SyFy for cancelling the show, you should give them credit for keeping it going for 3 seasons in the face of significant revenue losses. And you should blame Alcon for trying to blame hardball when it didn't have the leverage.

[Edit: Rome was actually the most expensive TV show; the average cost per episode was $9m over the course of its run. GOT's season 6 averaged $10m/episode and season 8 will average $15m/episode, but it's earlier seasons were relatively cheap. ]

Re: Syfy has canceled the Expanse, but its producers want to find it a new home

#8

Post by gamblor956 »

DmenshunlAnlsis wrote: post #4

Hopefully it lands on a network with a budget and more competent management. SyFy is where bad schlock lives and anything good dies.

SyFy doesn't produce the show; it only distributes it in the US and Canada. SyFy has mismanaged many of its shows in the past, but this isn't one of them.
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