Streaming service trims its catalogue to fund originals
Curation as cost control.
The shift did not happen overnight. It accumulated in quiet decisions, small wins, and a handful of unglamorous fixes that no one tweeted about.
Critics raise familiar objections, and some of them land. The honest answer is that the tradeoffs are real and worth naming.
Observers describe a mood of cautious optimism, the kind that travels in private conversations long before it appears in any press release.
Skeptics point to the long history of premature declarations. Their caution is earned, and worth keeping close at hand.
A small group of practitioners has been arguing for this approach for years. They are doing their best not to look smug.
The numbers tell part of the story. The rest lives in the texture of how people are actually behaving when no one is watching.
