The news: Viewership for Netflix original series drops off sharply after the first season—and sometimes after just weeks, per a Netflix data cited by Bloomberg.

• The live-action adaptation of anime “One Piece,” one of Netflix’s most-watched shows of 2024, lost 30% of its viewership in the first four weeks of its second season.
• “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” another live-action adaptation, saw a 60% drop after its first season.
• Other shows lost as much as 50% to 70% of viewers in their second seasons and had further declines in their third.

Only two shows this year, new series “His & Hers” and season four of “Bridgerton,” experienced viewership increases. A complete adaptation of a novel, “His & Hers” has not been renewed for a second season; “Bridgerton” will have a fifth season next year.

Why hits matter: Netflix’s inability to land a new smash hit after the finale of tentpole series “Stranger Things” is contributing to its slow engagement growth. We forecast that US daily time spent on Netflix will grow just 2 minutes this year to 36 minutes, concerning investors (Netflix stock is down 40.5% over the past year).