If they were doing it right then the "good enough" (meat and potatoes) shows would be enough that they could get by with just them, instead of putting everything into the "tent pole" productions (dessert). You can anticipate dessert, but you can't survive on it. The need to show immediate returns has them concentrating on the wrong part of the "meal." This is why viewers are fickle and switch back and forth between streamers, instead of being retained. Making tent pole productions your business model is financially unsustainable. You can't make enough of them to carry your business, nor should you.
I don't agree with that, for three reasons.
First, Netflix is quite aware of churn rate and the cost to acquire new subscribers. However, Netflix not only a below-market churn rate, it also has the
lowest rate of all streaming services.* In addition, it has achieved this without resorting to offering a bunch of gimmicky subscriptions or annual rates. So while it is true that churn is a concern, Netflix is the least concerned. Which likely means that their model has some merit.
Second, we have to look at how services reduce churn. One way is to offer cheap utility programming- reality programming and the like. Netflix is certainly offering a lot of that. The second way is to keep bring people back for something they both desire and know- the next season of Stranger Things, for example. Unfortunately, this has limited value for churn because it takes a while to make a season, and guess what? If all you want is the next season, you might unsubscribe, and then re-subscribe later to get that season.
The third way is to constantly offer
new things that people want to watch. Because new things interest people. Again, I wish it wasn't the case, but it is. I really hate it when I find yet another cool new show on Netflix and find out there is only one or two seasons of it ... but then I find that there is yet another cool new show I haven't seen.
ETA- I would add that Netflix is highly data-driven, and it seems unlikely that they would continue to pursue a strategy that would increase churn. IMO.
*The churn rate actually has increase over the last few years mostly because of the new streaming services with their higher churn rates; Netflix has increased, but remains below 4%- no other service has ever been under 4% as far as I know, and most services struggle to get under 6%.