Netflix has canceled 'Fuller House' after 5 seasons, but most viewers abandoned it after season 1
- Netflix renewed "Fuller House" for a fifth and final season this fall.
- Viewership dropped dramatically after its first season, according to data from analytics company Jumpshot.
- Data suggests the show held on to a loyal fan base that might have helped it last five seasons, though.
Netflix announced on Thursday that "Fuller House" would return this fall for a fifth and final season.
The show is one of only a handful of Netflix originals to reach five seasons. But its predecessor, the 1990s sitcom "Full House," lasted for eight seasons.
Viewership data from analytics company Jumpshot, provided to Business Insider, could explain why Netflix pulled the plug.
"Fuller House" was a hit when it first debuted in 2016, but viewership fell by 52% from season one to season two in their first month of release, according to Jumpshot. The drop was much smaller between season three and four, and viewership only fell by 10%.
That suggests that the show held on to a loyal fan base after casual viewers jumped ship, and might be why Netflix kept it around for five seasons. But it probably wasn't enough to renew the show past this upcoming final outing.
The first season had the biggest single-day viewership by far of the series on the day it dropped, and each premiere after that paled in comparison. The graph below compares day-by-day views for the series:
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Netflix rarely releases viewership data. The company has pulled the curtain back on a few movies and TV shows recently, but only for massive hits. It said that 45 million accounts viewed "Bird Box" in the first week (an original film record), and that 40 million households were expected to watch "You" in the first month.
Netflix says it counts a view as an account watching at least 70% of a movie, and 70% of a single episode for a TV show.