Netflix’s commissioning decisions are made by humans rather than machines, the company’s VP of original content Cindy Holland told Keshet’s INTV Conference in Jerusalem.
In response to a question about whether Netflix shows are given the greenlight by “man or machine,” Holland quipped that it is “more likely to be a woman.”
She continued: “Humans are making the decisions about what we choose to invest in, but we’re aided by the info we have. It would be foolish not to use it, it helps us really spot areas of opportunity,” adding that Netflix doesn’t look to “dictate notes or solutions” to creative teams.
The wide-ranging interview also covered the impact of competition from Facebook and Google, which Holland differentiated from Netflix: “They’re uncurated platforms. We’re a paid subscription service.”
She added that Netflix is “leading the way in the on-demand television revolution. The companies that stay rooted in historical distribution models, for example, mainly television, they’ll find themselves quite challenged.”
Holland also revealed that the average Netflix subscriber spends two hours a day on the streaming service, most of whom watch Netflix on TV or multiple devices.
