Will Netflix's algorithms prevent it from taking Black TV to the next level?

Fast Company

"Netflix has built a formidable résumé of Black TV and film. So now would be the time, more than ever, for the platform to take its approach to showing the full scope of the Black experience to the next level," says KC Ifeyani. "But one has to wonder what Netflix’s fabled data thinks of that." As Ifeyani points out, although a recent New York Times article touted Netflix as a leader in Black TV, the streaming service has yet "to back the next Issa Rae or Donald Glover to build a star-making, genre-defining vehicle both in front of and behind the camera." Ifeyani adds: "Netflix’s reliance on what you’ve already seen on the platform and other data may inhibit bigger swings that could help to elevate a broader swath of Black stories in places where it’s currently lacking such as animation or horror. Again, it’s not all on Netflix’s shoulders—but theirs are indeed the broadest and sturdiest to support and find an audience for more boundary-pushing content. Black TV helped shape some of the biggest networks that, eventually, treated those stories as a fad. The new era of the Black TV Renaissance seems to have a firmer place in today’s landscape, with new storytellers emerging and intersections and issues being handled with great nuance. Moreover, the current national conversation around race has fueled a more intent look at representation. That wave could certainly take stories centered around the Black experience to new heights that are, indeed, 'more than a moment'—and Netflix is the prime candidate for that amplification."