TOPSHOT – The Netflix logo is displayed at the entrance to Netflix Albuquerque Studios film and television production studio lot in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 13, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
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When it comes to weekly news cycles, Netflix has just had a particularly bad one.
It began when Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw wrote a piece arguing that Netflix’s subscriber engagement seems to decreasing, and that a number of shows recently returned for a second season to rapidly declining viewing numbers.
That piece set off a fire storm of industry hot takes and gleeful dunking on Netflix from people who believe the streamer has permanently damaged the economic model of Hollywood.
Then on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published a piece reporting that Netflix executives, concerned about dropping subscriber engagement numbers, are exploring bundles with other streamers as well as what the story describes as “live channels” inside the Netflix app.
That story in particular was aggregated by every media reporter I saw, and many of them took the easy approach of arguing this was just another sign that Netflix was “reinventing the cable bundle,” or “becoming the next TikTok.”
And that argument seemed to be reinforced by recent deals made by the streamer to add a number of video podcasts to its service. “Netflix has lost its way,” critics argued. “It wants to be more like YouTube. It’s going to launch a free version of its service. It’s going to allow creators to upload video directly onto the platform.”
Sure, most of the stories are just based on speculation and a healthy misunderstanding of how Netflix’s business model really works. But why not speculate? Because in the world of hot takes, there is no real penalty for getting it wrong. However, if you somehow stumble across the truth, there’s money to be made hyping your insight.
This is not to say that every piece…