Yahoo’s recent attempt to delve into original programming has been far from profitable, it turns out. According to Variety, the streaming network recently revealed their third-quarter earnings, and they’re super grim – the company “couldn’t effectively monetize†its original programming efforts with shows like Community and Paul Feig’s Other Space, resulting in a whopping $42 million loss:
Yahoo recorded a $42 million impairment charge in Q3 on the value of its video assets, and Goldman specifically singled out Community, as well as original shows Sin City Saints and Other Space, when asked what went wrong. Writing off the cost of the shows — $41.699 million to be precise, according to Yahoo’s financial statements — removes them from the balance sheet so they won’t be amortized over time. “We thought long and hard about it, and what we concluded is (for) certain of our original video (series), we couldn’t see a way to make money over time,†he said. Continued Goldman, “We’re not saying we’re not going to do these at all in the future. But what we are saying is, in three cases at least, it didn’t work the way we had hoped it to work, and we’ve decided to move on.â€
This definitely doesn’t paint a bright picture for the future of Community, though there’s been some talk in the past few months of a possible movie. Either way, Dan Harmon responded to the news with this:
Oh man. Yahoo lost a lot of money by loving Community. Now THAT makes me remorseful. They were so supportive I hate that it wasn’t rewarded.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) October 21, 2015
Variety also notes that a Community movie is still in the cards “with or without Yahoo,†so not all hope is lost. And if anyone knows that all hope is never lost, it’s definitely Community fans.