Netflix has been having a pretty hard time. The stock prices are falling to an all-time low, and subscribers are rapidly leaving the streaming service due to a sharp hike in subscription prices and dwindling quality of content, prompting the streamer to cancel some shows and films to save costs. Meghan Markle’s animated series Pearl happens to be one of them.
Founded by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Archewell Productions announced Pearl last year, where Markle would serve as executive producer.
The series would revolve around the escapades of a 12-year-old girl whose journey is inspired by the stories of various women in history.
Markle had previously said, “Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges”, where the series was meant to celebrate “extraordinary women throughout history”.
While Netflix has cancelled Pearl, they are continuing their partnership with Archewell Productions on the documentary series Heart of Invictus, focusing on the injured veterans competing in the Invictus Games in The Hague this year.
Besides Pearl, the streamer has also cancelled other animated children’s series like Boons and Curses and Dino Daycare.
The streaming service saw a sharp fall in subscribers in April 2021 and is anticipating two million other subscribers to quit their subscriptions by July 2022. This has led to a $50 billion decrease in Netflix’s market value, causing the streamer various problems.
After a successful 2021 with shows like Squid Game generating massive revenue, Netflix’s ambition for expansion grew exponentially. They began investing in creating more content to tap other demographics, including subscribers in India and Africa. However, the streamer’s decision to increase subscription prices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Canada and Australia has proved to be detrimental. It led to a massive loss in the subscriber base who are now moving to other competitive streaming services like Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, etc.
Netflix has recently laid off writers and journalists from its editorial fan site TUDUM owing to the website’s financial loss in the first quarter, aiming to curtail finances.
