Why Does Netflix Bite Off More Than It Can Chew?

It's pretty obvious that Netflix is at the forefront of the streaming experience. But the question is why? Sure, Netflix has a large, ever-rotating selection including both original and other content, but couldn't this be said for quite a few streaming services? Not to mention that Netflix Originals are being received with less and less of a warm welcome as time goes on. Netflix seems to be prioritizing quantity over quality, and recommendations don't seem to have any personalization at all.

Let's start the conversation off strong with Netflix Originals. Netflix Originals are no doubt a force to be reckoned with. Stranger Things is one of the most popular shows in the world, never mind just on Netflix. Shows like Orange Is The New Black, Outer Banks, Squid Games, Narcos, Lucifer, and Peaky Blinders are a teeny tiny sliver of what's offered, and that's not even including movies! But these shows all either gained massive success through multiple seasons or widespread press. What about the shows that don't make it? Is it pure coincidence? Do the shows that take off simply have the 'it' factor? I'll let you in on a secret about why some shows don't take off...it's poor promotion.

While there are plenty of options to talk about that this concept applies to, I will be focusing mainly on Spinning Out. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. But I should be surprised and so should you because this show had real potential. Spinning Out is a series about a family of figure skaters, mainly focusing on older sister Kat and her recovery after a head injury from a fall while skating. Maybe the initial synopsis doesn't appeal to everyone; however, this cast is great! Our two main sisters are played by Kaya Scodelario, of The Maze Runner trilogy and Skins fame, and Willow Shields, of The Hunger Games saga fame. The supporting cast even has Johnny Weir, two-time Olympic figure skater turned commentator. But the real kicker, the cream of the crop, the actress who plays the mother of the sisters is none other than January Jones. January Jones played Betty Draper in Mad Men and was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy for her performance in its seven seasons.

While some Netflix Originals have star-studded casts (I'm mainly looking at you Winona Ryder of Stranger Things), most Netflix Originals that thrive are made up of casts of mainly newcomers. Take for example Never Have I Ever, Outer Banks, Bridgerton, and even To All The Boys I've Loved Before to throw a wildly popular original movie in there.

Going back to Spinning Out -- I didn't hear of this show until a year or two after its release and cancellation. Although I am the perfect person to promote it to, as the whole product is right in my wheelhouse (teen drama, figure skating, mental health, family relationships), it never hit my radar. Even its stellar cast couldn't help the show wiggle to the forefront of the Netflix machine. So, if having recognizable names isn't the golden ticket and, in terms of this show to myself, compatibility isn't what gets the ball rolling, then what makes Netflix promote a show so much that I hear the name in my dreams without even watching a trailer? The promotion is done by the watchers.

What I mean by this is, if you observe Netflix, it almost seems like they're late to their own game. Squid Games is on their 'Trending Now' carousel only after half the world's population has already watched it, made the meme, and wrote the country song. Hit teen-oriented summer show Outer Banks made its rounds, gaining quick traction; it was recommended to me by a friend and I had completed the show before Netflix even decided to acknowledge this rising new release. Now, whether this is laziness and lack of understanding of its audience on Netflix's part or a clever scheme to get shows promoted with minimal work from themselves, I guess we'll never know. Speaking of 'New Release'...*giant sigh*. I don't even know if Netflix means 'New Release' as one carousel's title as in its content is new to Netflix or new in general because neither seems to be true (Titanic came out in 1997 and its been on Netflix at least one time before, it is by no definition a 'New Release').

Heading back into Spinning Out, the question is why would Netflix cancel a show starring a highly nominated, mainstream media actress like January Jones? The answer is: because Netflix bites off more than it can chew.

Netflix is a multi-billion dollar company; it has money to not be choosy. If your homepage looks like mine, which I'm almost sure it does, you may be wondering how Netflix is going into overdrive if they only have a few shows. Surely there isn't a whole catalog to offer if I keep getting recommended Cheer, Is It Cake?, and The Circle over and over (we'll get into Netflix's repetitious recommendations in a moment).

But if you dive deeper, there's a whole slew of hidden gems (and hidden not-so-gems, if I'm being transparent and honest). Netflix's former vice president of original programming Cindy Holland has been quoted saying that one fairly popular show, "had a very low completion rate" that was "very unlikely" to be able to "grow a new audience". Obviously, as seasoned as Netflix is in making series, they cannot predict the outcome of every release and therefore have to take risks. But they seem to have taken many a risk for little to no profit. If you're not into the business of wasting money, which seems to be the case if they're canceling a number of shows after one season because of lack of growth potential, then why keep making new show after new show after new show after new show? At this point, you might as well have put your eggs in that one big basket instead of fifty little ones and you'd be pretty even now.

Netflix continues to bite the hand that feeds it by canceling fan-favorite shows like The Society (after they had already announced a second season was on the way...oops) and Julie and the Phantoms, giving subpar finales to well-loved shows like Ozark, and even waiting far too long (covid, I get it) to deliver the fourth season of its golden child Stranger Things. To make matters worse, these canceled or failed shows sit and rot forever on Netflix. With television networks, canceled shows fade away with a possible random re-run once in a blue moon. But the Netflix Originals have nowhere to go but Netflix, so there they stay, taking up space as a painful reminder of what could have been.

And they continue to underdeliver to their loyal watch-base with the comical recommendations and "personalization". The 'Popular on Netflix', and 'Trending Now' carousels might as well be compacted down to one list because they contain all the same titles, and not even new or interesting ones at that. Sure, maybe they'll throw a few curveballs in to make us think we're seeing something different, but ultimately we aren't. Obviously All-American is 'Popular on Netflix' if it's 'Trending Now'. The words coincide and there's no reason to run these poor shows into the ground by offering them up on every list. By feeling like these shows are shoved in the faces of the public, the public may begin to lose interest or even just grow tired of hearing and seeing the name of certain shows.

While Netflix isn't perfect, no streaming services really are, right? I think they could do some cleaning up but I continue to watch and support so I guess I'm the sucker here. And at the end of the day, I don't have billions of dollars to waste on movies and TV shows that I'm not even sure will flourish (nor care if they do or don't), so what do I know?