I think Netflix has brought on some management people straight from Hollywood who have implemented the worst ‘data driven’ strategies.

Netflix’s earlier success never came from getting involved with content production, as the article says, their biggest hits came from giving skilled teams blank checks, or buying up already good stuff. They wanted to convince people that they could produce as good stuff as any studio or cable network, become the hot new thing that would get people to sign up.

But now, Netflix is trying to maximize viewer retention, prevent people from canceling subscriptions at the end of the month after they’ve seen what they wanted. They’re looking at what factors keep people watching for a long time, watching regularly, and then interfering with production till they get stuff that matches those metrics. They want Netflix to be a daily fixture in people’s lives so they won’t consider canceling it at the end of the month, and thus are making slop content to try and get that.