Beat Bugs
The kids series made exclusively for Netflix called ‘Beat Bugs’ has been mysteriously removed from Netflix as of July 19th, 2019. Here’s what we know about the removal and whether it’ll be returning.
Updated: 07/20/2019: The series has since returned to Netflix with all three seasons and the Twitter account have followed up as to why it was temporarily removed.
We’ll be back on Netflix ASAP!
We’ve learned a technical issue at Netflix has made Beat Bugs temporarily unavailable.
This is currently being addressed and your family will be back to enjoying the show soon.
We love our fans and look forward to you watching the show shortly. pic.twitter.com/sIi9TlXorH
— BeatBugs (@Beat_Bugs) July 19, 2019
The series sees bugs learning lessons and singing famous songs by The Beatles. The series has received multiple awards over the years and was popularised around the world when it first released in 2016 with two seasons and third season that was added in 2018.
On July 18th, 2019, the series was removed from Netflix in all regions around the world including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
It’s worth noting the Beat Bugs movie that released in 2017 called “All Together Now” remains on Netflix.
We talked to a customer service representative for Netflix who told us the following:
Netflix licenses TV shows and movies from studios and content providers around the world, and those licenses can expire if we don’t renew them. Though we strive to keep the content you want to see, we acquire licensing rights for TV shows and movies for a certain period of time – not indefinitely – so some titles do leave Netflix. If a TV show or movie you love is not on the list anymore, it indicates that our licensing agreement with the content provider has ended.
We then quizzed them based on the fact that Beat Bugs is a Netflix Original but that doesn’t matter in this instance with them saying: “Netflix original titles are not being produced by Netflix it just happens that the license of the shows has been honored only to us by the provider.”
In this instance, the show was distributed by Netflix outside of Australia where the show is aired by 7TWO. We didn’t know Netflix had a timed exclusive but some have pointed to licensing as a potential issue particularly with Beatles songs which are notoriously hard to get.
Will Beat Bugs Come Back to Netflix?
If it is a licensing issuing, we should see the series return in due course. There’s also a case that we won’t see it return.
Just 10 days ago, the show’s official Twitter account included the #NetflixFamily hashtag.
We hope you're having a magical week! #beatbugs #netflixfamily pic.twitter.com/mj2ReKXTG7
— BeatBugs (@Beat_Bugs) July 9, 2019
The show is due to get a movie that was announced in May 2019 as well as being a live musical show.
The removal of Beat Bugs hasn’t gone unnoticed by parents:
I don't know why the @Beat_Bugs episodes aren't accessible on my Netflix account right now (only the trailer is), but my three-year-old has very specific tastes in Beatles songs and yes, we could watch the 50-minute special instead, but he's 3. The struggle is real! 🤣
— Rachel Ryan Hartley (@rryanhartley) July 18, 2019
@netflix Are the Beat Bugs really gone?? My kids are freaking out that it’s not available to watch anymore 😬😬😬
— Lissa (@lissahoulding) July 19, 2019
For now, we’ll keep our ears to the ground in case we here anything more on the removal of Beat Bugs and whether it’ll return to Netflix.
