‘Ransom Canyon’ Returns to Netflix With Significant Viewership Decline
The romantic drama starring Minka Kelly and Josh Duhamel garnered 4.1 million views in its first week of Season 2, according to Netflix’s latest viewing data. This marks a 43% decrease from the show’s Season 1 debut, which attracted 7.2 million views during its opening week.
These figures are not quite what Netflix would have hoped for from the return of a prominent series. However, ‘Ransom Canyon’ is not alone in experiencing a drop in audience during its second season.
The 43% decline is similar to the drop recorded by ‘Running Point’. It is also significantly less than the 63% decline seen by ‘The Four Seasons’. Both of these shows have already been renewed for third seasons, indicating that a weaker Season 2 opening does not automatically spell trouble for a Netflix series.
Several other returning Netflix titles have experienced even larger declines. ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ fell 59% from its first-season premiere, while ‘Beef’ dropped by nearly 60%. ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ faced an even steeper decline, with its second season opening more than 76% lower than its first.
This places ‘Ransom Canyon’ in the middle of a broader trend impacting Netflix’s returning shows this year.
It remains too early to determine what these numbers mean for the future of ‘Ransom Canyon’. Netflix will likely analyze how many viewers continue to watch Season 2 in the coming weeks, along with other viewing metrics, before making a decision on whether the Texas-set drama merits another season.
The series was already under scrutiny before its renewal. Following its first season, ‘Ransom Canyon’ was reportedly viewed as a bubble series before Netflix ultimately ordered more episodes. The second season also received a smaller order, consisting of eight episodes instead of the ten from the first season. Changes were also made to the story and supporting cast for its return.
Currently, Netflix executives do not seem overly concerned about the broader trend.
During Netflix’s recent earnings call, co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed worries regarding second-season viewership drops. He stated that this pattern is typical across the entertainment industry and noted that Netflix’s numbers are holding up well compared to last year.
“We are not seeing any material change in our second season viewing compared to season ones; our second seasons are performing well within our bands of expectation,” Sarandos remarked.
He further explained why the drop can sometimes appear particularly large on Netflix. The platform’s biggest shows often launch with massive audiences, making it more challenging for a second season to match the first-season figures.
“Very often we see drop off from season one to season two. It’s very common in the industry, but it’s even more so with us because we launch our shows so big,” Sarandos added.
According to Sarandos, Netflix’s overall second-season performance is actually slightly better this year than last year.
“When we look across the entire portfolio, across all the regions, all the content categories, our season two fall off is actually slightly improved this year relative to last year,” he stated.
Thus, while ‘Ransom Canyon’ has clearly lost some viewers, its 43% decline does not necessarily indicate an impending cancellation. The true test will be whether Season 2 can retain those 4.1 million viewers and attract more in the weeks to come.
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