Netflix should renew The Ranch for season 5

It’s been reported that The Ranch will end after season 4, but Netflix should renew the series for season 5.

There have been a few reports The Ranch is ending after season 4 at Netflix. While Netflix has not commented on the news yet, it would be in the streaming network’s best interest to renew The Ranch for season 5.

The Ranch is already coming back for season 4, which will consist of Part 7 and Part 8, and that was announced prior to the release of Part 6. Based on the popularity of the series, we assumed The Ranch season 5 would happen, so you can imagine the shock when it was reported season 4 was expected to be the final season of the show. Sam Elliott even commented on the series ending after season 4.

While The Ranch is not my favorite show, not by a long shot, I do think Netflix should renew the series for season 5 from a business perspective.

My thinking here is pretty simple. The Ranch remains one of the most popular Netflix comedies, and Netflix needs to keeps its audience happy. The more shows Netflix cancels, the more subscribers become vulnerable to leave the streaming service. Lately, we’ve seen Netflix cancel a variety a few show that had good fanbases and followings. I think those decisions will hurt them, even if that’s what the algorithm tells them to do.

Netflix keeps all of its ratings information secret, so it’s very difficult to compare these shows. Based on the buzz around every season, The Ranch clearly has a passionate fanbase, and I guarantee Netflix is getting good results in terms of episodes per session, how quickly fans binge-watch each season and other binge-watching targets. Those things will matter more now, with all these new streaming services popping up, than ever before.

We all know Netflix is spending billions on content in the next year, and it’s important the streaming network renew their established content and keep new episodes coming. I’m not saying Netflix should release episodes sooner or anything like that. They just need their fans to be happy, and keeping shows around, even if the stories are weaker, is going to be helpful for the streaming network down the road.

Again, I don’t have any data to back that up, but it seems like Netflix takes the most heat when they cancel their own programming, even it’s not beloved by most subscribers.

The only way The Ranch should end after season 4 is if the producers and writers want this story to end with season 4. Maybe they don’t have enough material to do another 20 episodes, and that’s why the show would end. That’d be okay with me. In almost every situation, the creator should have the final say in how long the series should run. A story shouldn’t be stretched unnecessarily.

As mentioned, Netflix has not confirmed the series will end after season 4. We’ll be sure to let you know when we find out more information.