Ah, so I’m not alone in this! Nowadays, I typically only consider shows that have at least a few seasons, I will never ever try one with just one season. The chances of them killing it off are just too high, and that would ruin it completely for me.
I like to binge watch, I can’t enjoy that when they keep killing off shows. It feels like a restaurant with only starters.
The two parent posters are far from alone in my experience. Lots of people are getting turned off by the variable quality and uncertain future of the home-made productions, which means lots of people are holding off starting to watch a show until it's somewhat established and had some positive reviews. If your management strategy is to measure early engagement with your own shows and viciously kill off anything that doesn't make the cut, and if your viewers know this, then you have defeated yourself no matter how good the show is or how popular it would naturally have become.
A few years ago there was almost a trend for shows that weren't getting the numbers to get wrapped up with some sort of mini-series or TV movie so at least there was a chance for the production team to finish telling their story and give some closure for the fans (who might be fiercely loyal in sentiment even if too few in number to sustain the show). It's a little ironic Netflix would probably have been in a better position than anyone to adopt this kind of strategy and establish a reputation for being trustworthy and loyal to fans. Now it has the opposite reputation and we're openly speculating about whether it will ever recover.
I sold my Netflix a few years ago when they started talking about how they are an attention sink vs an entertainment company.
A/B tests and manipulative apps have a hard time accounting for external competition.
The CEO’s reaction confirmed the cluelessness - pulling some bullshit non-plan about ads out of his ass is like ripping out the IV. If I was on the fence about Netflix, having the company accuse me of being a thief for allowing my family to use it and announcing ads will certainly get me off the fence.
I'm rapidly running out of things on Netflix I actually want to see but haven't gotten around to. Once I run out, I'm not sure why I would keep the service around.