Analyzing the Netflix Pulse Cancellation Through Faltering Viewership Data
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
On July 2nd, 2025, Netflix confirmed the cancellation of Pulse, its first-ever US medical drama, after just one season. This decision, made public shortly before the July 4th holiday weekend, came roughly three months after the 10-episode series premiered on April 3rd, 2025. While Pulse was not Netflix's absolute first medical drama—international titles such as Hospital Playlist and Breathless had preceded it—it represented the platform's concerted effort to experiment with genres that traditionally thrive on cable and broadcast television.
The series, co-showrun by Zoe Robyn and developed alongside executive producer Carlton Cuse, initially got off to a "relatively strong start". However, the performance soon began to "flail" in the subsequent weeks. The ultimate reason the series won’t be returning for Season 2, as is often the case in the high-stakes world of streaming, came down decisively to the viewership numbers.
The Strategic Debut of Netflix’s First US Medical Drama
Pulse was designed to attract procedural drama enthusiasts, centering on the intense environment of Maguire Hospital. The premise established immediate tension: third-year medical resident Danny Simms (Willa Fitzgerald) is unexpectedly promoted after the respected chief resident, Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell), is suspended. The chaos is compounded by an approaching hurricane, which forces Maguire into lockdown under an onslaught of trauma cases, leaving the emergency room staff to navigate both the crisis and the fallout of Danny and Phillips' professional relationship.
The fact that Netflix chose to produce its own US medical procedural signaled an attempt to break into a lucrative television market. There was early internal optimism regarding the show's future; evidence included the WGA listing Season 2 of Pulse in its database. This indicated that Netflix was investing early in the potential continuation of the series by developing scripts. However, these script developments were just positive early steps, not a guarantee that Season 2 had been officially greenlit.
Despite the early investment, the cast and creatives were notified that the show had been "quietly axed" in May or June, well over a month before the public announcement, suggesting the poor internal data was registered immediately.
The Faltering Pulse: Viewership Data Under the Microscope
The most significant factor driving the Netflix Pulse Cancellation was the inability of the series to maintain audience engagement after its initial debut. The metrics utilized by Netflix—including the total number of hours viewed and the total number of views—indicated a worrying lack of retention, compounded by other non-public factors like completion rates and budgetary concerns.
Pulse managed to feature on the global top 10 list for four consecutive weeks. During this period, the series recorded 162.10 million hours watched, resulting in a total of 20.20 million cumulative views. While the series did achieve broad initial reach, landing in the weekly top 10s of 82 countries (out of a possible 91), its domestic performance was soft, appearing only two weeks on the widely tracked Nielsen streaming charts.
When benchmarked against other first-season debuts on Netflix, Pulse's 20.20 million cumulative views placed it near the bottom of a comparable sample list, ranking 11th. To illustrate the gap, successful renewed shows like The Diplomat achieved 64.3 million views in their first four weeks. Significantly, Pulse performed worse than The Residence, a fellow first-season drama that was also canceled alongside Pulse on July 2nd, 2025, which registered 22.9 million views.
The Catastrophic 62 Percent Drop
The performance table tracking the four weeks Pulse spent in the global Top 10 reveals the extent of the audience retention failure:
Week in Top 10 | Hours Viewed | Views / CVE | Weekly Rank |
1 | 52,000,000 (New) | 6,500,000 | 3 |
2 | 68,100,000 (+31%) | 8,500,000 | 3 |
3 | 25,800,000 (-62%) | 3,200,000 | 7 |
4 | 16,200,000 (-37%) | 2,000,000 | 9 |
After an initial week-two surge (a 31% increase in hours viewed), the series experienced a devastating collapse in interest, recording a 62 percent drop in views between week 2 and week 3. This sharp decline confirms that the majority of viewers who sampled the first or second episode did not continue watching the series, which is a lethal metric for any subscription service that prioritizes long-term engagement.
A Diagnosis of Mixed Reception and Narrative Confusion
The negative trajectory of the viewership numbers was likely exacerbated by the show's mixed critical and audience reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series received a 48% rating from critics and a slightly higher 58% from audiences. Its IMDb score was 6.8/10. This lukewarm reception did not generate the buzz necessary to counteract the steep viewing drop-off.
Audience feedback indicated problems with the core narrative. One user noted that the sheer size of the cast led to "a lot of plot confusion". Other viewers felt the show was a "mess," criticizing what they perceived as a confusing shift in focus from the initial promise of a hurricane plot to a storyline concerning sexual assault. The disappointment was clear, with one commenter noting that the show failed to live up to the rumored hype of being the "next Grey's Anatomy show". These complaints about narrative execution and shifting tones likely played a role in the low completion rates that drove the decisive Netflix Pulse Cancellation.
Unrealized Ambitions for Season Two
The lack of sustained viewing interest left the show in a state of permanent limbo, despite ending Season 1 on an unresolved cliffhanger centered on the hurricane. Although executive producer Carlton Cuse remains actively working with Netflix on other projects, such as adapting Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets, this relationship did not save Pulse from the platform's stringent performance requirements. The quiet decision to inform the cast and crew of the cancellation in May or June underscores how quickly Netflix acts on underperforming data, prioritizing future resource allocation.
The Bottom Line of the Netflix Pulse Cancellation
Ultimately, the Netflix Pulse Cancellation serves as a stark reminder of the unforgiving nature of the streaming market, where performance data reigns supreme. While Pulse was a significant first step into the US medical drama genre, its failure to retain its audience past the second week—highlighted by the critical 62 percent viewing drop—made renewal financially untenable. In the streaming landscape, initial visibility and a promising concept are quickly nullified if the audience votes against continuation by failing to click "next episode". The data showed a weak pulse, leading to the inevitable decision to cease investment in the series.
🔖 Key Takeaways
🗝️ First US Medical Drama: Pulse was Netflix’s debut US medical procedural, premiering April 3rd, 2025, but was canceled on July 2nd, 2025.
🗝️ Viewership Collapse: The primary driver for the Netflix Pulse Cancellation was the failure of audience retention, evidenced by a 62 percent drop in viewership between the second and third weeks.
🗝️ Low Cumulative Performance: The series accumulated 20.20 million views over four weeks, placing it poorly compared to renewed and even other canceled titles.
🗝️ Mixed Reception: Lukewarm critical (48% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience (58% on Rotten Tomatoes) reception, coupled with viewer complaints about plot confusion and a large cast, contributed to low completion rates.
🗝️ Data Dictates Investment: Despite early Season 2 script development, the definitive numbers ultimately forced Netflix to quietly axe the show a month before the public announcement.
🌐 External sources
Keywords: Netflix Pulse Cancellation
Netflix Pulse Cancellation
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