‘Ransom Canyon’ Returns to Netflix With a Shocking Viewership Drop

The romantic drama, led by Minka Kelly and Josh Duhamel, pulled in 4.1 million views during its first week of Season 2, according to Netflix’s latest viewing data. That is a 43% drop from the show’s Season 1 debut, which reached 7.2 million views during its opening week.

The numbers are not exactly what Netflix would have wanted from the return of a high-profile series. Still, Ransom Canyon is far from being the only Netflix show to see its audience shrink during its second season.

The 43% drop is roughly the same decline recorded by Running Point. It is also much smaller than the 63% drop suffered by The Four Seasons. Both of those shows have already been renewed for third seasons, which suggests that a weaker Season 2 opening does not automatically spell trouble for a Netflix series.

Several other returning Netflix shows have also seen even bigger drops. Avatar: The Last Airbender fell 59% from its first-season opening, while Beef dropped by almost 60%. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder had an even steeper decline, with its second season opening more than 76% below its first.

That puts Ransom Canyon somewhere in the middle of a larger trend affecting Netflix’s returning shows this year.

It is still too soon to know what the numbers mean for Ransom Canyon’s future. Netflix will likely look at how many people continue watching Season 2 in the weeks ahead, along with other viewing data, before deciding whether the Texas-set drama deserves another season.

The show was already something of a question mark before its renewal. After its first season, Ransom Canyon was reportedly considered a bubble series before Netflix eventually ordered more episodes. The second season also received a smaller order, with eight episodes instead of the first season’s 10. The story and supporting cast were also changed as part of the return.

For now, Netflix executives do not appear overly worried about the broader pattern.

During Netflix’s recent earnings call, co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed concerns about second-season viewership drops. He argued that the pattern is normal across the entertainment industry and said Netflix’s numbers are actually holding up well compared with last year.

“We are not seeing any material change in our second season viewing compared to season ones, our second seasons are performing well within our bands of expectation,” Sarandos said.

He also explained why the drop can sometimes look especially large on Netflix. The company’s biggest shows often launch with huge audiences, making it harder for a second season to match the first-season numbers.

“Very often we see drop off from season one to season two. It’s very common in the industry, but it’s even more so with us because we launch our shows so big,” Sarandos added.

According to Sarandos, Netflix’s overall second-season performance is actually slightly better this year than it was last year.

“When we look across the entire portfolio, across all the regions, all the content categories, our season two fall off is actually slightly improved this year relative to last year,” he said.

So, while Ransom Canyon has clearly lost some viewers, its 43% decline does not necessarily mean the end is near. The real test will be whether Season 2 can keep those 4.1 million viewers watching and bring more people to the show in the weeks ahead.

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