The Netflix show ‘The Witcher’ has been the top hit of the streaming platform since its release. Based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series of the same name, the story explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia starring Henry Cavill in the lead. Ever since its release on Netflix, the show has attracted a huge fan base for the last two seasons of the show.
Sadly, the third season of ‘The Witcher’ saw a massive fall in its viewership. It was mainly due to Cavill’s untimely departure from the show. The fans of the fantasy drama couldn’t take the news in a good way. However, Liam Hemsworth will take over the role of The Geralt of Rivia in the fourth season of the series.
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‘The Witcher’ Loses Its Massive Viewership After Henry Cavill’s Exit
Last year Henry Cavill announced his departure from the popular Netflix show ‘The Witcher’. The third season of the show would be Cavill’s last run as Geralt of Rivia. However, the reason behind his exit from the popular series has not been revealed and the fans are disappointed. Because of this ‘The Witcher’ Season 3’ faced low viewership recording, with only a 15% decrease compared to the Season 2 premiere.
According to a report from Samba TV, the first episode of season 3 recorded 1.1 million viewers, which slightly went down to 505,000 viewers by the end of Volume 1. This records a loss of almost 600,000 viewers over the first five episodes of Season 3. While Season 1 continues to be Netflix’s most popular TV season, the second season drew in more than 1 million viewers during the first week of its debut on Netflix.
Are fans already bracing themselves for #HenryCavill's exit?
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) July 31, 2023
Viewership of part two of #TheWitcher was down by 33% from part one. 597k US households tuned in for the part two drop on Netflix over the weekend.#SambaTVInsights #TheWitcher3 pic.twitter.com/wIG1RVoU5l
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‘The Witcher’ Blamed for Poor Marketing Tactics
The reason behind Henry Cavill’s departure was mainly because of the show’s falling viewership. Also, many fans claimed that Liam Hemsworth would not be able to match the standard left behind by Cavill. Desperately wanting to create hype, Netflix came up with a unique strategy technique.
‘The Witcher’ promoted the new season with the quote saying Yes, he’s still Geralt in Season 3 referring to the Cavill leaving the series. The promotional and marketing technique has been taken as disrespectful to Liam Hemsworth. Many have called out the streaming giant and its makers for not believing its recasting and the future star of the show.
Just in case you need a reminder. pic.twitter.com/bvV0hYjymU
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) July 3, 2023
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