[lowdose]

I wouldn't classify Netflix as a bean culture. Because Netflix is still run by Reed Hastings the founder & CEO. Netflix hired Cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken. From his research came the insight of binge watching series not from Netflix data.

Netflix invests in series by pioneering new narratives for niche markets. When a niche market is smaller or the serie is received not as expected Netflix pulls the plug as every rational agent would do.

The publishing industry in the 90ties was optimizing their business model for maximizing ROI of limited amount of shelve space by producing hits for popularity what 80% people like.

https://wistia.com/learn/marketing/science-behind-why-we-bin...

Generalizing people in to a category of money people and expecting to draw a profound conclusion from your arbitrary box is underwhelming.

Capitalism is the most efficient way to allocate capital and produces much more culture than systems driven by altruistic motives.

[barrkel]

Don't forget that it's not a single instance game.

The more Netflix pulls shows, the more it develops a reputation for pulling shows.

That decreases viewer investment in new shows, as they're incentivized to wait and see if the show lasts, or whether they're going to be left with narrative tension and no payoff after a cancellation.

And with decreased viewer investment in new shows, more shows get cancelled because the numbers don't look good. It's pro-cyclical and it burns goodwill.