I think most of our attachment to blogs as a consumer comes from subscribing to a personality rather than a topic alone. The content gives us rational direction to subscribe while the creator's branding gives us a reason to stay. That's why it's difficult to get the X factor going as not everyone has a branding that could appeal to the masses but could still thrive in their own entertainment niche.
I lean more on personality being the selling point as a lot of people can talk about the same thing but some are just better at keeping an audience attention glued.
I agree with this.
I think you are right and it gives me insight into my own audience. I suppose I belong to a few niches that aren’t easy to blend without being generic and so I struggle to catch the entire niche. I like it though so I see it as a challenge to find a way to be more interesting to very different kinds of people. 😃