[brookst]

> When Netflix pivoted into content, they needed to get creatives and passionate people in charge rather than the tech-world PMs they ended up putting in charge.

Very, very true. Disney's magic is their strength as a content brand. Not just their core products; with ESPN you know exactly what it's going to be, from live sports to documentaries.

Netflix made an amazing pivot from physical to digital distribution, and that will be studied in business schools forever.

But they failed to pivot from digital distribution to content. They knew they needed to, they spent billions of dollars trying to, but they didn't understand that content has to be the primary brand identity. Distribution is an implementation detail.

[Izkata]

> But they failed to pivot from digital distribution to content.

There is a niche that no one fills, that I'm hoping Netflix shifts into: "Popular series was canceled? Let's pick it up and give it a final season!"

They're doing it with Manifest right now. It was on NBC and canceled after 3 out of 5 planned seasons, and the creator was trying to figure out how he could finish the plot as a single movie, then Netflix bought it and gave him an entire 20 episodes to finish the plot - almost the entire two missing seasons. First half was just released a few days ago.

[strgcmc]

No one fills that niche because finishing out shows that were otherwise cancelled, is unlikely to be a growth market. At best, you attract a dwindling set of diehard fans, but the reason the show was cancelled is probably because the audience for it wasn't growing, or the economics of producing the show could not be justified against the size of audience attracted.

Might there be some diamonds in the rough? Sure. The Expanse seemed to do well enough with its second chance on Prime Video after Syfy cancelled it after 3 seasons. But that seems to be an exception rather than the rule.