Counterpart: STARZ blames women for cancelation at TCAs

It’s come to this. Starz COO Jeffrey Hirsch claims the audience for Counterpart was too male to be renewed. What does that mean? We’ll try to break it down.

We’re in the midst of the Television Critics of America Summer Press Tour for 2019. Per a report from Deadline, the new Starz COO Jeffery Hirsch addressed the cancelation of Counterpart after its second season. Hirsch is quoted as saying that Counterpart was “a very complicated show, a very male show.” He also explained that a two season commitment had been made to the show before a new female driven strategy had been chosen for the network.

In the real world where real people live, Counterpart was badly marketed, if it all. There was no push to connect to the audience it had or to grow the audience Starz wanted. It’s more honest to admit that Starz felt held back by the show and was running out the clock on the two year commitment. Let’s break down this mess.

Yes. That was a shot at women.

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I didn’t get creative with the quote from Hirsch. That’s how it appears in the Deadline article. So, guys like complicated stuff and women don’t? He can’t be saying that women don’t like sci-fi. One of Starz’s biggest shows is the time traveling historical romp Outlander. It’s heavily marketed as a damsel in distress type of deal. But, the damsel flips the script, gains agency, and frowns on history. There’s a sense of dread and fear that our past history will always repeat itself and get worse.

That’s actually very similar to Counterpart’s season two storyline. But, I guess the actors are all younger and in love with each other in Outlander. Sure, they may not all take their shirts off and the clothes may be baggy, but there are a lot of historical costumes. Everyone loves some good cosplay! If you want to get into sci-fi and tackle some heavy subjects like slavery and genocide, you have to first romanticize them or dumb them down so that college through middle-aged spinsters can binge them on their tablets while eating Bon Bons. Right? Right?! Wrong.

Counterpart-Shadow Puppets-Courtesy of STARZ

Here’s what really happened. Outlander is a fine show. So fine in fact that it’s maintained an average of just over one million viewers per episode for its fourth season, per TV Series Finale. That was was down a good chunk from its season three average of over one and a half million viewers. But, the show has maintained an average of over a million viewers per episode over all four of its seasons. That surely boosts the social media presence and buzz around the show. And that makes it a good investment. For a fledgling network like Starz, you might want to hitch a whole ad campaign to those numbers.

Power is another show that is currently averaging over a million viewers per episode, per TV Series Finale. It came close to averaging two million viewers in season three. It is kind of jammed into some ads I’ve seen for powerful women on Starz. But, both shows premiered in 2014. That’s well before the new “Female Premium” strategy was developed by Starz according to Hirsch in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. In fact, the strategy is brand new. It’s aimed at the loyal demographic of women aged 24-54 that want to kick back and forget their troubles when they watch TV.

The Hollywood Reporter asked Hirsch straight up if Counterpart would still be on the air if there was a female at the center of the show. Hirsch responded by saying that female lead shows often skew male. I could understand trends for shows like Outlander and Power. But how do shows like Counterpart or Now Apocalypse skew at all? As we reported in January, Counterpart was hemorrhaging viewers while barely maintaining a 200,000 viewer per episode average. Now Apocalypse, which was also canceled for skewing too male, averaged only 89,000 viewers over its only season, per TV Series Finale.

With viewership that low, any data suggesting a skew in male vs female viewership is anecdotal. There’s just not enough viewers. I have a bad feeling about a renewal for Vida. Hirsch’s warning about female led shows skewing male could be laying the groundwork for a cancelation announcement. In its second season, Vida averaged 120,000 viewers per episode per TV Series Finale.

The bottom line is simple. Starz is canceling shows with bad ratings. There’s no way to prove a male skew in the ratings that are available for the shows they are canceling. The shows that Starz is building a strategy around are popular and carry strong ratings. If they skew female, that’s awesome. If you want to target women, that’s great. But, please, don’t say the shows you’ve canceled are too complicated or too male. That’s not reality based. It’s also dumb and insulting. Just be honest. Counterpart was critically acclaimed, but no one watched it. Starz made a business decision. That’s all there is to it.

What did you think about Starz claiming Counterpart was too male? Do you think that’s a thing? Let’s discuss in the comments!