Business statistics are useful tools of analysis when taken in a larger context. If a department store’s sales drop 30 percent from one month to the next, is it time to panic? One would say yes, but when the drop happens from December to January, it’s not so concerning. In fact, it’s practically expected given the nature of holiday shopping.

When Netflix informed its shareholders this week that it signed up 5.2 million subscribers in the second quarter of this year, there were several ways to look at that. Two years ago, it signed up 1.7 million for the second quarter, so the growth in 24 months has been impressive. In the same quarter a year ago, it also signed up 5.2 million subscribers. In that light, it maintained its progress.

But compared with the previous two fiscal quarters, 5.2 million is a big drop. By comparison, in the first quarter of this year, it signed up 7.4 million subscribers.

And the 5.2 million number is also well below the company’s projection of 6.2 million subscribers for the quarter. In fact, the company has never fallen this far short of a quarterly subscription target.

So shareholders naturally want to know what’s up. The company usually has one quarter a year when it falls a little short of subscriber expectations, but why did it miss by so much this year?

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Any number of reasons could be at play here, but one that can’t be ignored was the announcement in May that Netflix has entered into a multi-year deal with former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama to “produce films and series for Netflix, potentially including scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries, and features,” according to a company statement.

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It’s not necessarily a surprise that Netflix sought out the Obamas. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was a big supporter of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign, and said voters should elect Clinton because “Trump would destroy much of what is great about America.”

“Hillary Clinton is the strong leader we need, and it’s important that Trump lose by a landslide to reject what he stands for,” Hastings said at the time.

When the Obama deal was announced, some conservatives immediately urged other conservatives to dump Netflix.

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Add the fact that Netflix is home to Michelle Wolf’s weekly “comedy” show and conservatives have another reason to snub Netflix. If you didn’t know Wolf before her out-of-line attacks on Vice President Mike Pence and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, you may know her now for her infamous “Salute to Abortion” on her program earlier this month.

Hey, if that’s the programming liberals crave, more power to Netflix for delivering it.

But if I’m a shareholder of Netflix, I’m asking why are we alienating the other half of the country with our content?

Here’s the other problem with Netflix’s decision to promote left-of-center programming. Netflix needs continuous subscriber growth to keep investors happy. Slate.com estimates the company currently has roughly 125 million subscribers worldwide, but cites one financial analyst who suggests Netflix probably needs to reach 250 million for long-term sustainability.

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Some of that increase will certainly come overseas, but programming choices that are meant to glorify liberals and either ignore or criticize conservatives will guarantee a roadblock to Netflix’s growth in the U.S.

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