Why did Netflix remove the show I wanted to watch?

85% movie removals in 2025 alongside a growth (+576) in TV shows added since 2024 signal Netflix's push to keep users binging on shows for longer periods of time rather than one-off 2hrs sessions.

This strategic shift reflects Netflix's understanding that longer viewing sessions lead to higher engagement metrics and reduced churn rates. By prioritizing TV series over movies, they're creating content that naturally encourages multiple viewing sessions and builds stronger viewer habits.

The ratings of removals suggest that Netflix is trying to keep their content enjoyable and fresh, while only letting go of top performers because of contract negotiations (as seen in announced HBO-removed content)

With an average IMDB rating of 6.55 for removed content (compared to 7.0 overall), Netflix appears to be opting for high quality standards, even going as far as removing 50 of their original titles that show an averge rating of 6.47! With careful curation, Netflix aims to reinforce their reputation of offering a "wide variety of award-winning TV shows, movies, anime, documentaries, and more"

Netflix's content removal patterns demonstrate the fragile balance between managing viewer expectations and keeping the best quality content available on the platform.

January appears to be a one-off spike of removals, whereas the rest of the year shows more consistent content lifecycle management. From my experience with finding what content was scheduled to leave Netflix, I noticed that the streaming platform's team (understandably) tries to keep the removals as discrete as possible. From overriding the monthly removal announcement article every first day of the month, keeping explanations brief on why content is removed, and removing the disappeared content from any recommendation algorithms, Netflix is certainly focused on emphasizing their existing and new content while trying to make the viewer forget about the removed content.

The one thing I wish Netflix did upon removing content would be to have a transparent approach that I discovered from a competitor: AppleTV. Instead of leaving viewers stranded once a title is removed, AppleTV offers a list of streaming services that still let you watch the title. AppleTV understand that the streaming market is dynamic and that viewers will always find other ways to watch the content that they want to watch. By staying transparent and helpful to their users, AppleTV positions themselves as not only a spot to view your favorite titles, but also a movie/show knowledge hub. AppleTV title information pages, whether the title itself has left the plaform or not, remains one of the top links you get when trying to find a movie/show. Plus, by keeping the information page complete and updated, there's more chance that viewers stumble upon a title that they like in the "Related" AppleTV content recommendations and actually try out the streaming service.

So, Netflix, it might be worth embracing title removals to build a stronger SEO presence like AppleTV and to use removed content as an opportunity to entice viewers to just land on your website and stumble on one of the thousands of recommendated titles...rather than acting like nothing happened:) The old content is there if you search for "[Title] Netflix". There is just no reason for viewers to look at it yet.