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people & arts Wednesday 23 august 2017
Netflix loves to pick hits for each subscriber _ but how?

By FRAZIER MOORE helping each program get leased original drama se-
AP Television Writer discovered by the subscrib- ries starring Jason Bateman
NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix ers most likely to enjoy it. as a money-laundering
wants subscribers to know Four out of five of the shows family man who’s seriously
it’s looking out for them. watched on Netflix were jammed up with the Mexi-
For instance, the average found by its subscribers can drug cartel he works
Netflix subscriber might thanks to recommenda- for. “We’ve found that
never guess that its dark tions offered them, Netflix people who tend to watch
superhero drama “Jessica says. ‘Blacklist’ and ‘House of
Jones” might strike similar Those suggested new fa- Cards’ tend to like ‘Ozark,’”
chords as the zany hijinks vorites are much more cus- says Yellin. “But another
of “Unbreakable Kimmy tomized for each subscrib- kind of person who will find
Schmidt.” Netflix is happy er than might be evident he likes ‘Ozark’ is a fan of
to help you make the con- from a glance at the Netflix ‘Narcos’ and ‘El Chapo’
nection. Much of the at- home page. and other drug-cartel-ori-
tention showered on this Most every row of program This Monday, July 17, 2017, file photo shows the Netflix logo on ented dramas and docu-
streaming-video giant in suggestions (even generic- an iPhone in Philadelphia. Much of the attention showered on mentaries.”
recent years has dwelled seeming categories like Netflix focuses on its insatiable appetite for original content. But, wait, there’s yet anoth-
on its insatiable appetite “Comedies” and “Dra- Associated Press er “taste community” rally-
for original content and for mas”) is tailored for each person bubble up to the This data is crunched and ing to “Ozark,” says Yellin:
creators to produce it. subscriber, Yellin says. top of the catalog,” says continuously refined by the fans of the 2015 film “The
“We want to appeal to as And how the rows are ar- Yellin. “And we want those company’s secret-sauce Big Short,” which deals with
many different people as ranged vertically on the relevant titles to be diverse. algorithm. And then viewer Wall Street dirty tricks, have
possible, and appeal to home page is a function We don’t want to make the habits gathered by Netflix been found to respond to
the many moods that each of the subscriber’s demon- amateur mistake of getting from its 100 million accounts the money monkeyshines
person has,” says vice pres- strated genre preferences. caught in an echo cham- worldwide add more grist that animate “Ozark.”
ident of product innova- “You might have ‘Come- ber, such as: Just because to the mill. “It’s not like we could have
tion Todd Yellin. “The more dies’ as your fifth row,” says you watched one horror Thus can Netflix take a guessed this ahead of
diverse our content, the Yellin, “and for another per- title, slapping in front of you “gateway” program and time,” says Yellin. “We just
more likely that someone, son it might be 25th. And nothing but more horror point the person watching track which shows tend
at their moment of truth someone else might not titles.” Yellin likens the pro- it to other unexpected or to cluster together. Who
about what they’re going get a comedy row at all.” cess of providing bespoke unknown fare with presum- would have thought that
to watch, will choose to go So your Netflix is different TV for each customer to a ably similar appeal. ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘Kimmy
to Netflix.” from everybody else’s. But three-way collaboration. Consider “Ozark,” which Schmidt’ would cluster to-
But this service’s multibil- where do these tips come First, a legion of Netflix viewers might be led to gether?” As well as — no
lion-dollar annual outlay for from? “taggers” screens every from any of several direc- kidding — “Making a Mur-
new programming neces- “It’s very important that the program, tagging different tions, explains Yellin. derer” and a John Mulaney
sitates another challenge: titles most relevant to each elements that compose it. “Ozark” is a recently re- stand-up concert.q

Book review: ‘Charlatans’ teases, but fails to thrill

By ROB MERRILL, already earned their M.D. Noah is by far the most in- lously written, with crack-
Associated Press are egotistic and entitled, teresting character. ling dialogue that readers
For his thirty-fifth novel, often flaunting the rules The others feel too one-di- will recognize from medical
Robin Cook chose a sub- and blaming their col- mensional. TV dramas: “He’s in ven-
ject scarier than a viral out- leagues when something Even the mysterious and tricular fibrillation”; “I’m in
break or comas or bioter- goes wrong. beautiful Dr. Ava London, the thorax and looking at
rorism: doctors. The novel’s plot zooms who lives in a three-sto- the heart”; “Go ahead and
“Charlatans” centers on along, but it never feels ry Beacon Hill home she bronch him!”
the life of Noah Rothauser, that suspenseful. shouldn’t be able to afford It’s when the time of death
the super chief resident at In part, that’s because and maintains multiple so- is called and the action set-
Boston Memorial Hospital Cook spends a great many cial media profiles, never tles down that the book los-
(BMH). pages as the omniscient reaches the level of com- es much of its momentum.
Young and ambitious, Ro- narrator, telling readers plexity she should. Still, Cook fans will keep
thauser’s career is on the what characters are think- When we do learn her real turning the pages.
fast track. But when a se- ing and why they’re be- life story, it provokes more He does make readers
ries of anesthesia-related having in a certain way of a shoulder shrug than an think with long passages
deaths rock the hospital, This cover image released rather than showing them aha moment. about how medical train-
he starts to question a great by G.P. Putnam’s Sons shows their actions and letting What Cook does well, and ing needs to adapt and
many things about his cho- “Charlatans,” by Robin Cook. readers draw their own always has, are set pieces how technology is reshap-
sen profession. Associated Press conclusions. in the hospital. ing not only the practice of
Cook, a physician himself, patients are stuck in a sys- Here’s an example from in- Each of the three patient medicine, but also what it
has always had plenty to tem that hasn’t changed side Noah’s head: “He won- death scenes are meticu- means to be a doctor. q
say about the state of mod- since the start of the 20th dered when he would hear
ern medicine, but “Char- century. from her, whether the next
latans” suggests that he’s Rothauser is dedicated day or the day after that
more worried than ever. to becoming a doctor at ... not since high school ...
features the latest and the expense of everything had he been quite so con-
greatest technology, but else in his life while doc- fused, irritated and worried
the people using it to treat tors in the book who have all at the same time.”