There's another aspect that their answer sort of hints at but doesn't really expand on: > Now that late-night anime is the norm, the TV networks treat the show

There's another aspect that their answer sort of hints at but doesn't really expand on: > Now that late-night anime is the norm, the TV networks treat the shows like infomercials, and production committees making them are mostly interested in selling DVDs and character goods. > Anime in itself isn't a recipe for profit, so bearing the risk of investment between a bunch of companies is better if a title flops. There's a lot of single-season anime out there that fans generally understand as never having intended to continue, but instead were made more as advertisements for the manga/other media they were adapted from.