Last week, Disney conducted its latest purge of original content from its streaming services around the world, including Disney+, Star+ and Hulu, as part of its pivot to focusing on profitability, rather than subscriber numbers. The purge included a number of originals, including “Crater”. “The Company You Keep”, “The Watchful Eye”, “Single Drunk Female”, and “Alaska Daily”. These were all removed from streaming services as part of a $400 million dollar impairment charge, which basically means they’re a tax write-off.  Back in May, Disney also wrote off over $1.5 billion dollars worth of original content, including “Willow”, “Big Shot”, and “The One And Only Ivan”.

Unfortunately, because Disney doesn’t always release all of its original content globally simultaneously, two shows, “The Watchful Eye” and “The Company You Keep”, were originally announced and scheduled to be released on Disney+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland in July. However, we have been informed by Disney that these two shows will no longer be coming out in the UK and Ireland as originally scheduled.

“The Watchful Eye” is about Elena Santos, a young woman with a complicated past, who manoeuvres her way into working as a live-in nanny for an affluent family in Manhattan, where she quickly learns that everyone in the mysterious building has deadly secrets and ulterior motives.

While, “The Company You Keep”, tells the story of what happens when a night of passion leads to love between con man Charlie and undercover CIA officer Emma, who are unknowingly on a collision course professionally. While Charlie ramps up the family business with sights set on getting out for good, Emma works to close in on the vengeful criminal who holds Charlie’s family debts in hand — forcing them to reckon with the lies they’ve told so they can save themselves and their families from disastrous consequences. The series is based on the Korean Broadcasting System series entitled “My Fellow Citizens.”

Both shows had previously been released on linear networks and on Hulu in the United States, along with the shows being available on Disney+ in some other countries.  But since not enough people watched either show in the US, they were both cancelled.  With studios now looking for profitability over subscribers, cancelled shows will become quickly withdrawn from platforms, since a tax write-off is a much quicker way of recouping costs.  It’s certainly annoying for international audiences who never even got to see these shows, and also how, ultimately, international viewership doesn’t seem to be considered of value.

Were you looking forward to watching “The Watchful Eye” or “The Company You Keep”?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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