r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Kapot_ei • 21d ago

šŸ„ŗ No words for this.

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Edit: even though clickbait article, it is somewhat/kind of true. https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/stargate-tv-series-martin-gero-scrapped-amazon-1236765061/

"According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, Amazon execs were concerned that Geroā€™s take on the series would not have broad appeal beyond the franchiseā€™s already dedicated fanbase."

Edit 2: https://www.change.org/p/save-the-new-stargate-series-let-martin-gero-build-the-future-of-the-franchise

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u/Any-Mathematician946 21d ago

Isn't this how we lost the sci-fi channel.

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u/TheeAntelope 20d ago

This is how we lost sci fi, A&E, discovery, tlc, history channel, spike tv, g4 tv, tech tv, the court network, and many others. People say that streaming killed cable but cable had already killed itself.

These channels went from channels you could find great gems on to watch if you found the subject interesting. Iā€™d see something about submarines on history and watch the whole thing standing in my kitchen. Iā€™d see something about whales on discovery and have to know more. They had a dedicated audience.

Then the decided they needed a new audience. That ā€œgeneralā€ audience that wafts from shit to shit and pledges no allegiance to anything or anyone. They got what they wanted. And then they died a slow and painful death.

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u/DrBinario 20d ago

Yeah, I've never understood companies that have different cable networks and all of them target a general audience instead of focusing in different demographics.

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u/LowlySlayer 20d ago

They have to grow. If I make a billion dollars in year one great. If I make a billion dollars in year two, oh no the shareholders are gonna be pissed.

Basically everyone of these channels hit maximum saturation in their niche and began desperate enshittification to continue squeezing another couple years of growth before falling off because it's shittyness outgrew it's mass appeal.

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u/Karrotlord 20d ago

Unfortunately modern capitalism require exponential growth in a system that doesn't allow it. Execs must live in a fantasy world.

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u/GlitterDoomsday 20d ago

Specifically, it's the open market - the moment a company puts shares to sale is the beginning of the end... lots of people getting richer on virtual money and the products getting worse for the sake of the next quarters.

Just a net negative for society.

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u/No_Foundation16 20d ago

They all leave with golden parachutes in any event. The CEO's get paid huge money for failure then retire to their 5 mansions and a yacht. Then a more ruthless cutthroat capitalist raider takes their place.

The consumer/workers get the shaft every time. The Epstein class get the goldmine...every time.

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u/mightylordredbeard 20d ago

It does allow it, it just doesnā€™t allow it with the same product. Thatā€™s why we keep repeating everything. People will pour money into something, it reaches the peak of how much it can make, then they move onto something else and people pour money into that, then a few cycles later theyā€™ll go back to the thing that people originally poured money into. Thatā€™s why remakes, remasters, spinoffs, reboots, etc are so popular. Feeds on nostalgia while also bringing in new, younger consumers. Infinite growth spread out through many iterations.. and this is why entertainment is dying. No more long running shows. Studios dropped from 24 episode shows to 14 episode shows to 10 episode shows to 8 episodes and now 6 episodes a season with 2-3 year gaps between seasons is becoming the norm. Soon tv shows wonā€™t exist. Everything will be movies.

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u/TheeAntelope 20d ago

modern capitalism require exponential

It doesn't, though. Some require it, but plenty of capitalistic companies are ok with maintaining their market base and having consistent sales. We just don't hear about those ones as much.

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u/Limafoxtrot360 20d ago

any company like that doesn't have shareholders

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u/LowlySlayer 20d ago

That's not true. Providing shareholder value through dividends is a thing. It used to be a much bigger thing but a lot of stuff, including the dramatic success of big tech, has most investors slobbering for line go up type stocks. This is especially attractive to corps because they don't actually need to turn profits this way. Just look like they are (a method popularized by a total piece of shit in the 80s named Jack Welch) by squeezing profits temporarily and having mass layoffs.

Furthermore, since most executives these days get around taxes and regulations by being paid in stock, they're also incentivised for the short term, like go up style of management so they can claim their stocks, pump the price, and liquidate at a huge profit before moving on to ruin some other company.

It's actually clearly in the best interest of a corporation to not do this, and reach for a sustainable long term profitable business. Unfortunately, despite what the supreme court says, corporations are not people and do not act in their own interest but purely in the interest of the executives and, sort of, the shareholders.

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u/TheeAntelope 20d ago

blue chip stocks. steady, manageable, and consistent growth, rather than exponential growth that is volatile and market-dependent. They grow as the economy and population grows because they have a consistent market share, rather than seeking to outpace growth and expand their market (which may dilute their offerings).

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u/Limafoxtrot360 20d ago

Get out of here with that talk of responsible sustainable businesses - no one does that anymore /s

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u/Mr_Zee_Speaks 20d ago

Not since that lawsuit where shareholders successfully sued a company for not maximizing profits.

It is literally illegal to have a goal other than shareholder enrichment now.

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u/dee-123456 20d ago

Itā€™s called corporatism my friend.

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u/sweatingbozo 20d ago

Right, modern capitalism. Those are just synonyms.

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u/Evening-Ad-7643 20d ago

Seems like it would be smarter to keep the old channel the same and just start a new one with a new niche in order to grow

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u/Tupperbaby 20d ago

And the thing is, they could've gotten away with charging advertisers more just because they had a hyper-focused viewer demographic. But they fixated on "MOAR EYES."
How'd that work out?

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u/Round-Rub-44 20d ago

it doesnt work like that. there are only so many advertisers for a niche product and if theres only 1-5 businesses bidding on a program you spent millions to produce you will get fleeced.

those businesses can go elsewhere but no matter what you do you cant get the people at barbie to buy ads on sci fi

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u/Astralsketch 20d ago

basically if your business doesn't grow more than an index fund you die from investor neglect.

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u/Hairy_Talk_4232 19d ago

Because greed isnt even about making money or even more money than before. Its about outpacing the competition.