Starz To Remove 'Dangerous Liaisons,' 'Becoming Elizabeth' & Others From Streaming

First, Starz greenlit Dangerous Liaisons for a second season, sight unseen before the first one even aired. Then they retracted that second-season renewal when the show didn't do well critically. Now, Starz has announced that the single season won't be on its streaming service and will be removing the recently canceled Becoming Elizabeth, along with a few American titles. It's not the first streaming service to announce such moves in recent months either, as HBO Max removed The Nevers and other titles, and AMC+ is reversing on several Season 2 renewals.

These changes in the streaming landscape are part of a broader move by production studios to start cutting back on expenses. The trend of every network launching its streaming service (usually with a "plus" on the end) and attracting subscribers by making those services the exclusive home of their content was never a sustainable model. Some studios were more prepared than others: Netflix, with their 60+ releases a month done on venture capital money, and Disney, with their monopoly size, to tap into multiple brands. But Starz was never of a size that could compete on that field.

That's not to say these shows will be gone forever. Starz isn't taking titles like Becoming Elizabeth off its service to store them in Disney-like vaults. Instead, it's turning these shows into what they always were before the streaming revolution: assets others will pay for the rights to air.