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Netflix has fallen into the Google trap. Google famously kills projects and half-asses things. This destroys user trust. Eventually people won't use your new t
by jmyeet 4y ago
Netflix has fallen into the Google trap.
Google famously kills projects and half-asses things. This destroys user trust. Eventually people won't use your new thing because they don't want to become dependent on something that's just going to languish before being cancelled.
Larry Page's "more wood, fewer arrows" idea never really took hold.
Apple OTOH is very good (mostly) at focusing on fewer things and seeing them through. Apple Pay is a prime example of this. Every month there are more banks and financial institutions onboarded.
But this hurts Netflix on both sides. The obvious one is for viewers. It's becoming increasingly less likely that I become invested in some Netflix series knowing it's likely fate. Even the otherwise excellent Ozark's 4th season felt rushed, like they were trying to cram 2-3 seasons of storylines into one season.
HBO has generally been very good at seeing things through. There are notable exceptions (eg Rome, Deadwood, arguably even Westworld although that one is complicated).
But it hurts Netflix on the creator side. If you're an Aaron Sorkin type shopping around your series and you have a lot of suitors, why would you choose Netflix when you fear it'll get cancelled prematurely. Now you can write in commitments into contracts. This happened with House of Cards, initially two seasons guaranteed IIRC. But not everyone has that leverage.
It seems like Netflix has fallen into the trap of optimizing for the wrong metrics, specifically short-term new customer signups. Maybe they look at customer retention too? Maybe customers don't actually care about this? I honestly don't know.
I do think they're hurting their brand though.
- abnercoimbre 4y ago> I honestly don't know. This is the most frustrating bit isn't it? Misalignment between customer and company incentives grows to the point of speaking alien. Customer: "We want our favorite shows completed! Why are you f#cking over loyal customers?" Company: "Let's cycle growth optimization metric A in favor of metric B. That'll mean eliminating these shows but profit margins should be healthier in X years due to [cite big data]."
- lmm 4y ago> It seems like Netflix has fallen into the trap of optimizing for the wrong metrics, specifically short-term new customer signups. Maybe they look at customer retention too? Maybe customers don't actually care about this? I honestly don't know. They definitely look at that. They're aware that customers mostly don't finish the shows they start, that's something they've talked about before and probably a factor driving this decision. The part that I would personally speculate that they may have missed is that for someone who never gets around to watching past season 2 of a 5 season show, the existence of the last 3 seasons might still be part of their decision to remain subscribed. But IDK.
- thevagrant 4y agoI stay subscribed because I plan to watch something but then don't get round to it. It's still in my mental calculations for staying subscribed even if it costs me. When they cancel the shows without finishing them, it leads to "no point watching, no point paying"
- nicolas_t 4y agoI regularly watch a first episode, decide that this show is great and so would need more focused time for me to watch it so I wait to have free times (holidays) and for the seasons to be finished.