system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do popular shows (Futurama, Invader Zim, Johnny Bravo, Dexters labratory etc) get cancelled seemingly in their prime, while shows like The Simpsons and Spongebob are still making episodes for decades despite a large majority of fans not liking newer episodes?
gpt
The percentage of the fan base that enjoys the show matters less than the raw number of viewers.

Just looking at the fan reaction, it may seem like a lot of shows get cancelled, despite most people liking it, while other shows only get a tepid response, but remain on the air.

Let's throw out some imaginary numbers to make it clear:

If you have 40 million people who are fans of the Simpsons, but only 45% of them like the new episodes enough to watch every week, that's 18 million viewers.  

Now, imagine you have 10 million fans of Futurama, and 90% of them like the new episodes enough to watch every week, that's 9 million viewers.

So, despite being twice as popular among its fan base (90% v. 45%), Futurama still gets half the viewership of The Simpsons (9 million vs. 18 million).  

Advertisers and studio executives see the raw number of viewers of The Simpsons and support that show.  They see the raw number of viewers of Futurama and decide it's not worth supporting.