If not Netflix, who?

M.G. Siegler ponders Netflix’s ability to get us watching, even when the content isn't all that special (sparked by his watch of The Old Guard, but prompted by the wider pattern of so-so content on the platform:

The real risk here is that the audience starts to associate Netflix with mediocre films. It may not matter now — and certainly not right now, in the time of COVID. But down the line, if the audience can’t trust that what Netflix is putting in front of them is good, they’ll lose faith.

But then, Netflix might well decide that they'd much rather end up replacing the multiplex cinema business and showing stuff that doesn't get the critical plaudits, rather than replacing the arthouse cinemas where critical praise doesn't necessarily translate into dollars and cents. This might be a problem for Netflix, but only if one of the other major streaming platforms finds itself with an HBO-like reputation for excellent content.1

It's less about Netflix customers losing faith, more about their having somewhere else to put their faith in.


  1. Apple TV+ would like that to be them, but even if you're an Apple optimist they've clearly got a long, long way to go yet. Disney would like to step into the HBO role but they own such a large chunk of the US studios that they might have to hive off a chunk of their more refined content and put it out under a different brand to make that stick. Amazon's algorithms probably don't care either way what Prime Video subscribers are watching so long as the Amazon Prime subscription income keeps rolling in.