There’s nothing like the feeling of binge-watching a TV show. You find yourself thinking about it all day, worrying about the characters like they’re old friends and building anticipation for when you can finally go home and watch. The outside world and your responsibilities melt away as you devour episode after episode and there’s a feeling of accomplishment as you cross off seasons.
Binge-watching became convenient and popular thanks to streaming: accessing shows and movies on the Internet in real time. As of 2024, 83% of households in the U.S. have at least one streaming subscription, per Exploding Topics. As streaming has become the norm, it has accustomed us to binge-watching culture — watching entire seasons of shows in a short period of time. But now popular streaming services are pushing back by releasing shows in parts rather than all at once, and some of them are executing it better than others.
Netflix is considered the original streaming platform and also the most successful. It started as a mail out DVD-rental service and then in 2007 it began offering streaming subscriptions. Netflix purchased the rights to old episodes of popular TV shows like “Friends” and put them all online so viewers no longer had to wait a week for a new episode or months between seasons.
Binge-watching helped popularize Netflix, and in 2013 the company began producing its own series’ and releasing the episodes directly onto the platform in one batch. As more streaming services popped up like Amazon’s Prime Video and HBO’s Max, they all followed suit and started releasing original shows on their platforms.
It seemed as if binge-watching and streaming were synonymous; however, recently that has been changing in an attempt to retain subscribers, maximize viewership and relieve post-production stressors.
The streaming service Disney+ was still in its infancy when it began disrupting things by releasing original episodes on a weekly basis. All three of its highly anticipated Marvel shows did this in 2021: “WandaVision,” “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki.”
Prime Video used the same weekly release tactic for its original shows like “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “The Boys.” For “Daisy Jones and the Six” it released two to three episodes a week. Max also used weekly releases for “House of the Dragon” and “Euphoria.”
At the time that these shows were coming out, I was frustrated by the weekly release. It felt like a rollercoaster: the high of getting one episode immediately followed by a low of knowing I had to wait another week for the next. It felt like I couldn’t enjoy the show the way I was used to with binge-watching and becoming mildly obsessed. Binge-watching and content oversaturation have made me impatient.
I’m not the only person who dislikes the practice. One Prime Video user left a comment in Amazon’s digital and device forum saying: “If I wanted a weekly show I would be watching cable.”
However, in hindsight I can see why the weekly release may actually have merit. Although binge-watching is enjoyable, it’s not the healthiest habit. According to the National Institute of Health, binge-watching can lead to behavioral addictions and sleep problems. Still, I’d be the last person to say binge-watching isn’t fun and I will continue to do so. Just consider that like with many things in life, moderation is important.
Of course these streaming services are not considering our health when they utilize weekly-releases. Rather it is a strategy to elongate subscriptions (which renew on a monthly basis) and increase viewership and conversations about the show on social media as people share in the wait for new episodes and recommend others hop on the bandwagon.
In 2022 Netflix changed the game once again when they announced they would be releasing the fourth season of “Stranger Things” in two parts, one month apart, with seven and two episodes, respectively. Netflix explained that this was necessary due to the high amount of visual effects and post-production editing required for the sci-fi show. Yet since then, it has continued to follow this pattern for other popular shows like “Bridgerton” season three and “Outer Banks” season four. Both shows came out in two parts a month apart from each other.
Although I was annoyed when I watched the first part of “Bridgerton” in a day, throughout the month I actually enjoyed reading people talk about it on social media and remembering that more would be coming. Otherwise I would have just watched the entire show in a few days and then forgotten about it by the next month.
Still, Netflix is testing its limits with its most audacious release schedule yet for “Cobra Kai.” The final season was split into three five-episode parts, the first two of which came on July 18 and Nov. 15, 2024. The final set is arriving on Feb. 13. Fans like myself were frustrated at the show being pulled taut over the course of a year. Although I will still be watching, my excitement for the release has decreased since the initial one in July, then November and now February.
While weekly releases and even split-seasons coming out within a month of each other are acceptable, I would caution Netflix and other services against spreading out their releases further or chopping their seasons into too many parts. Otherwise they risk fans losing interest and spoilers getting leaked.
Binge-watching will always be popular with viewers and lucrative for business, so it’s important to create conversations and “hype” around a show without killing its momentum.
