Subscriber growth alone no longer guarantees profitability as churn and uneven engagement challenge traditional metrics.
David Sanderson, Founder and CEO of Reelgood, emphasizes that data-driven content strategy, intelligent catalog design, and competitive programming analysis are now critical to keeping viewers engaged and reducing volatility.
Executives can drive long-term value by aligning programming, marketing, and product design around measurable engagement signals.
Streaming is moving beyond blockbuster budgets and marquee releases, and 2026 is shaping up as a pivotal year for how platforms hold attention and drive revenue. Platforms are using data and AI to personalize experiences and optimize discovery, making analytics and insights central to competitive advantage. The rotation economy, where viewers subscribe for a single show, cancel, and return months later for the next release, is creating new opportunities to boost engagement and loyalty. While churn and acquisition costs remain challenges, executives can now focus on retention, smart catalog design, and data-driven programming, with sustainable, profitable engagement replacing subscriber growth as the primary benchmark.
David Sanderson, Founder and CEO of Reelgood, a streaming guide and analytics platform used by over 100 million viewers, has extensive experience helping platforms understand audience behavior. He previously co-founded a Meta department that drove billions in revenue and earned recognition for Reelgood as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and a Fast Company Most Innovative Companies honoree. His perspective sheds light on how streaming leaders are pivoting from measuring scale to prioritizing engagement and retention.
“The days of just spending a hundred million dollars an episode are over. Now it’s about how your P&L looks and what your data tells you about retention and engagement,” Sanderson explains. Platforms are moving beyond volume-based benchmarks to measurable engagement outcomes, using analytics to guide which content surfaces and how it keeps viewers watching.
Churn control: Many viewers cancel and resubscribe around new seasons or promotions, making churn a persistent challenge. Sanderson emphasizes that strategically balanced, deeper libraries stabilize engagement. Carefully curated exclusives and thoughtfully designed portfolios foster long-term loyalty while reducing subscriber volatility. “Richer content libraries and intelligent catalog design focusing on quality over quantity can make users less likely to churn,” he said.
Data dollars: Leading platforms now pair content strategy with competitive intelligence to maximize engagement and retention. “They’re looking at what genres competitors are investing in, how their catalogs are growing, and where there are opportunities for unique angles in licensing and production decisions,” Sanderson said. This approach reflects an industry-wide shift toward profit-conscious, data-driven programming.
Catalog counts: Even platforms with extensive catalogs see diminishing returns if the right content isn’t surfaced strategically. “Loudermilk was low-ranked on Prime, then hit the top 10 on Netflix. Same content, better surfacing,” Sanderson noted.
Consolidation is creating new opportunities to strengthen retention. Bundled services deliver both cost savings and richer, more engaging libraries, while intelligent catalog design emphasizes quality over quantity. Disney, for example, spans offerings from Bluey to Star Wars, keeping audiences invested across genres. Sanderson highlights that 85% of Netflix’s shows run one to two seasons compared with 61% on Paramount+. The goal is a churn-resistant, loyalty-focused service that turns retention into a strategic advantage.
Hook, line, sinker: Retention relies on a deliberate content mix. According to Sanderson, platforms should organize programming across three buckets: novelty, hook, and familiarity. Novelty draws viewers with major new titles, hook builds attachment through existing series, and familiarity offers rewatchable content that fits into daily routines. Completion rates anchor the strategy. “Ideally, viewers start at episode one and finish the season. That’s the golden metric for engagement,” Sanderson said.
Screen sense: Ownership of the home screen remains important, but data-driven discovery is increasingly critical. Pre-roll recommendations, AI-tailored artwork, and word-of-mouth amplification extend engagement beyond the homepage. The “watch next” moment, which captures viewers immediately after a series ends, is now a central retention lever. “It used to be about getting people in the door with a flagship title. Now the name of the game is to get them hooked on that show. As soon as they’re done, get them hooked on the next one,” Sanderson said.
Global goldmine: International productions offer high engagement at efficient budgets. Platforms are leveraging foreign IP and compelling stories to drive returns with lower investment risk. “Foreign production, existing IP, and a compelling story can be a gold mine for engagement,” he said. Sanderson cited Heated Rivalry, produced for $3 million, alongside Stranger Things, which cost 100 times more, as examples of how lean overseas content can deliver outsized results.
In today’s streaming economy, the edge goes to platforms that translate insight into action, guiding viewers from one title to the next, optimizing catalogs, and measuring true engagement. Programming, marketing, and product design are now driven by retention signals rather than headline-grabbing budgets. Analytics, content mix, discovery mechanics, and international efficiency operate as integrated levers, each influencing the others in real time. “Goals have shifted, so humans have to shift strategy accordingly,” Sanderson said.
