Breaking Bad is now remembered as a TV classic, but it might’ve been canceled after two seasons if not for a massive overhaul within the industry. Although it frequently tops lists of the greatest TV shows ever made, Breaking Bad wasn’t an instant success when it first started airing on AMC. It ended up finding its audience outside AMC’s airwaves.

It’s rare that a hit TV show is a massive hit right out of the gate. It usually takes a couple of seasons for a series to find the right audience and spread enough word-of-mouth to build a substantial fan base. Seinfeld, The Wire, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia flew under most people’s radar when they first premiered.

Over the course of Breaking Bad’s five seasons, the series told the engrossing saga of Walter White’s transformation from mild-mannered high school teacher to ruthless drug lord. But the show was almost scrapped after its second season, before that transformation had really gotten underway. Thankfully, a revolution in the TV industry came along to save it.

Breaking Bad’s Creator Once Admitted The Show Could’ve Been Canceled Without Netflix

Vince Gilligan Said The Rise Of Streaming Helped Breaking Bad Thrive

After Breaking Bad ended and won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, creator Vince Gilligan spoke to reporters and reflected on the show’s run (via Variety). He noted that the television industry had changed a lot in the six years that Breaking Bad had been on the air — with one change in particular saving the show from early cancelation.

Gilligan said that the rise of video-on-demand streaming services like Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon Prime had brought new audiences to shows they might not have otherwise had access to. Breaking Bad wasn’t a huge ratings hit on its broadcast home, AMC, but it found new viewers when it began streaming on Netflix. “Netflix kept us on the air,” Gilligan said.

How Netflix’s Industry Takeover Played A Role In Breaking Bad’s Popularity

Netflix Made It Easier For Audiences To Watch Every Episode

Breaking Bad was one of the earliest serialized shows where audiences had to watch every single episode in order to follow the story. That’s tough to do when each episode airs at a specific time on a specific day of the week, but it’s a lot easier when you can watch them at your own leisure on a streaming service.

In a sense, Breaking Bad plays like a really long movie chopped up into hour-long chunks, so it’s tailor-made for the binge-watching experience. Audiences found it more palatable to binge-watch entire seasons than to watch the story unfold a chapter at a time on a weekly basis, so Netflix became the perfect delivery system for Breaking Bad.

Source: Variety

Breaking Bad

10/10

Release Date

2008 – 2013-00-00

Showrunner

Vince Gilligan

Directors

Vince Gilligan, Michelle Maclaren

Writers

Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Vince Gilligan, George Mastras, Moira Walley-Beckett, Sam Catlin, Thomas Schnauz