Westworld, The Nevers, Raised by Wolves, and More Have a New Streaming Home, But Don’t Expect More Seasons

Late last year it was announced that shows like Westworld, The Nevers, Raised by Wolves, and more were getting pulled from the HBO Max streaming service but that they would be moving to a new venue at some point. Well, that time is coming up quicker than expected as the shows will be available on the free, ad-supported streaming services Tubi TV and The Roku Channel. An exact date has not been announced for when they will arrive on their new homes, but they will start showing up pretty soon. Also making the move to these platforms is The Time Traveler’s Wife as well as non-genre entries Head of the Class, Legendary, and more. The shows should start streaming on Tubi TV in early February while The Roku Channel has just indicated “Spring 2023” as the release window. All four of the genre shows mentioned above were cancelled by HBO or HBO Max, and The Nevers has six episodes that have still not been released. All six of those will be available when the show arrives at its new home.

But the fact that these shows have moved to the two FAST (Free, ad-supported streaming TV) channels does not in any way suggest that more seasons could follow. Tubi TV has yet to make many inroads into the streaming originals market, mostly just attaching its name to cheap, direct-to-video films. And even if it did throw its hat into the original scripted series ring, its budget probably wouldn’t even cover the catering for a single season of a high-dollar show like Westworld. And while The Roku Channel has put out a few originals, its budget is pretty limited as well. In fact, just paying for the licensing rights of these HBO/HBO Max cast-offs is probably a stretch for both companies.

Still, this is an important shift in the streaming landscape that could have a long-reaching impact. The previous model for originals was to use those to draw subscribers to a service and then they would remain as exclusive content. Syndication on the linear channels is not a viable option because of the relatively short runs of streaming originals (usually three to four seasons at most with somewhere between 24 and 50 episodes). But now the premium streamers have a second-tier of venues that are willing to pay for encore runs of original programming which means that these properties will continue to generate revenue from licensing fees. It did not necessarily work well for the four genre shows above because they were cancelled and cast-off as a cost-cutting measure. But now that the model has been established, it could lead to a shift in strategy pertaining to originals from the major streaming services. I will be looking at this in more detail in an upcoming post.

CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows for the current season with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site  for breaking news and updates.

SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.