What binge watching v. weekly releases say about how we watch television

The age of streaming has arrived in full force, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Television and media consumption has been revolutionized by the almost universal switch from cable television to online streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max and so many more. But the platform on which we watch TV isn’t the only thing that’s changed.

Because streaming allows viewers to watch what they want, when they want, on demand, there are no restrictions on how television shows are released. This has resulted in a widespread switch to full-season releases — instead of shows premiering episode by episode, the entire season will be launched at once, a perfect recipe for binging.

The binge model of show releases has become increasingly popular on streaming platforms, and for good reason. With the amount of available content online today, it’s already difficult enough to keep viewers’ attention. Media saturation makes it increasingly difficult to find a broad audience for programming because every individual show is competing against thousands of others.

As a result, shows designed for streaming platforms need to be quick, engaging and fully available for a binge to get viewers hooked. When an entire season is available in one go, it’s easy to click that “next episode” button and just keep watching. By the time the viewer has gotten through an entire season, they’re already hooked on the characters and story, so they're likely to come back for more.

Several popular shows have used this model and succeeded. For example, “Stranger Things” was one of the first widely renowned streaming shows, and each of its seasons was released with the binge model.

Even nearly six years after its initial release in 2016, the show is still a highly regarded cultural phenomenon, only increasing in popularity. More recently, “Squid Game” and “Inventing Anna” have had similar successes with the binge model, which makes it easy for new viewers to catch up.

But the downside to this is that, because the binge model can be watched so quickly, it can also be forgotten equally as fast. Once the viewer has finished watching one binge-able show, they will likely move on to another and may very soon forget about the first show that they watched.

So while releasing full seasons at a time might encourage viewers to stay until the end of the season, it may also discourage them from coming back for a second or third season, especially if the show isn’t as high-budget or mainstream as “Stranger Things.”

Binge-style Netflix shows like “I Am Not Okay with This,” “Girlboss” and “Chambers” were canceled after only one season, presumably due to a lack of viewership, among other reasons.

The sheer volume of television shows not only on Netflix but also on every streaming platform ensures that the majority of series will likely not garner mainstream popularity. Company executives have to judge based on viewership whether people are likely to come back for another season and decide what shows get made based on this.

On the contrary, the classic week-by-week model of television releases might encourage viewer loyalty in the long term, even though it might be more difficult to grasp an audience initially.

If a viewer is invested enough in a show’s first episode, they will come back for the second, then the third and so on. So, the classic release model will encourage viewers to dwell on the show for a longer period of time, forcing them to intentionally return to watch at approximately the same time every week.

Disney+ typically uses this release model for its shows, often banking on the fact that fans of Marvel and Star Wars will consistently return to watch new episodes of shows like “Wandavision” and “The Mandalorian,” respectively. So far, this release model seems to be working for them as these shows, among others, gained much mainstream attention and are still widely loved.

But “Wandavision” and “The Mandalorian” have the benefit of being part of larger cinematic universes with established fanbases. As a result, their popularity was almost guaranteed.

Shows like “The Mysterious Benedict Society” on Disney+ and “Only Murders in the Building” on Hulu also managed to find an audience with a weekly release format and were each renewed for a second season. But, “The Mysterious Benedict Society” already had a bit of a fanbase because it was based on a book series, and “Only Murders in the Building” gained immediate intrigue due to its star-studded cast.

It’s possible that, in the streaming age, the weekly release model only works if the streaming platform can be sure that the show will gain an audience. A prime example of this is “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+.

The first season of "Ted Lasso" released its first three episodes at once and then episodically after, combining the two models, though most people engaged with the series after it was fully released. It quickly became a critically acclaimed, widely popular series. When the second season was released weekly, it still managed to maintain its popular standing and acclaim, winning seven Emmys for both of their seasons.

If the classic model was used fully for the pilot season of “Ted Lasso,” it might have struggled a bit to gain popularity, as most viewers would likely not be attached enough to return to the show week by week.

Therefore, by initially using the binge model in part for its first season and then pivoting to episodic releases for the rest of season one and season two, "Ted Lasso" gathered a large fanbase and was able to capitalize on this for the second season’s weekly release.

But it might also be that weekly release doesn’t have a long-term effect on a show’s popularity. After a series’ initial release, no matter the format, all of its episodes will be available on streaming. This essentially means that all streaming shows will eventually default to the binge format, regardless of how they were first released.

Enthusiastic initial viewers of “WandaVision,” “The Mandalorian” and “Only Murders in the Building” spent weeks following the series as it premiered, but all of these shows can now all be watched over the course of a day or two.

There is no objective answer as to which style is better, nor is it likely that any one style will triumph over the other. Rather, the way each show is released is typically a strategic business decision designed to maximize the success of the show. Moreover, the chosen release model is meant to maximize our enjoyment of the show and make it as exciting and engaging as possible.