Binging vs 1 Episode a week

[Iceman]

Thought I’d make a thread based on an earlier post of mine to find out what most prefer.

* If I was just viewing things solely for personal pleasure and not discussing what I'd seen with others I'd definitely prefer the binging format. In the old days with comics for eg when it came to getting one new update a month in my favourite series it was painful! But with back issues I was able to catch up and read hundreds a month and that element was crazy fun. At the same time I would have loved people to talk to about them before the internet was around.

Just in terms of talking individual show episodes as they happen with people, I now prefer the weekly format. When binging is available the conversations seem to be more about the overall show and the smaller things that might have been discussed week to week in more depth and speculation seem no longer to be that important when you have the overall ending in your grasp. Having a buddy back then who went away and read 500 X-Men issues and then came back to discuss them with me would have been great, but not comparable to if we'd read one a day and discussed each one in turn.

 

[DeadlyWest]

Apples and oranges. It depends on the show and its structure.

 

[Iceman]

Apples and oranges. It depends on the show and its structure.

Good point. I added a third poll option to reflect that, thanks.

 

[Lip]

I agree that it depends. For me, some shows, especially comedies, are better binging. But others, especially dramas, are better 1 episode a week.

There's also the factor that releasing everything at once kind of kill the conversation. Like, I had friends who wanted to talk to me about Stranger Things but they couldn't because I hadn't finished yet. Each person watches on their own time. And this is applied to the internet as well. People can't discuss and theorize freely online because of spoilers.

Netflix had some shows that a lot of people watched, like Sweet Tooth and Shadow and Bones, but the conversation seemed to die one week later. On the other hand, look at the success HBO's Euphoria had online.

I believe that shows like Lost or Game of Thrones would never had the same impact if they were released like Netflix shows. The conversation online was a huge factor.

Not to mention that some dense shows are better "absorbed" watching weekly. I'm thinking shows like Sopranos or Mad Men.

Anyway, I agree that some shows work better when you binge. But I prefer weekly release.

 

[Iceman]

I agree that it depends. For me, some shows, especially comedies, are better binging. But others, especially dramas, are better 1 episode a week.

There's also the factor that releasing everything at once kind of kill the conversation. Like, I had friends who wanted to talk to me about Stranger Things but they couldn't because I hadn't finished yet. Each person watches on their own time. And this is applied to the internet as well. People can't discuss and theorize freely online because of spoilers.

Netflix had some shows that a lot of people watched, like Sweet Tooth and Shadow and Bones, but the conversation seemed to die one week later. On the other hand, look at the success HBO's Euphoria had online.

I believe that shows like Lost or Game of Thrones would never had the same impact if they were released like Netflix shows. The conversation online was a huge factor.

Not to mention that some dense shows are better "absorbed" watching weekly. I'm thinking shows like Sopranos or Mad Men.

Anyway, I agree that some shows work better when you binge. But I prefer weekly release.

All good points. The conversation-killing aspect of binging and the limiting of speculation in advance with seasons of shows leaving the current issue status by the time I catch up is what's made me change from an original preference for binging to a weekly preference now. I end up staying away till I've watched to avoid spoilers and then the amount of conversation left is much less and also smaller things that happened in 2 minutes in the middle of episode 3 no longer feel worth bringing up. True also on those major shows like Lost or GoT. There was so much excitement week to week on what might happen next with the latest cliffhanger and without that - if the cliffhangers had been instantly resolved by watching all the episodes - they might not have had the same impact as they did.

 

[Kev4000]

Im done binging stuff.
I do 1 episode per day or 1 episode per week these days.

 

[Lip]

and also smaller things that happened in 2 minutes in the middle of episode 3 no longer feel worth bringing up.

And sometimes the conversation that comes out of that 2 minutes scene is extremely important, not to predict an upcoming twist, but to have a better understanding of a particular character and the decisions they made.

I'm saying this because shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad or Sopranos lie heavily in character study. And having these conversations and seeing other people's opinions online helped me understand better Walter White, Peggy Olsen, Tony Sopranos, Carmela, Skyler, Don Draper, etc...

 

[Prison Mike]

It depends on the show and the number of episodes for me. For shows that are 6-10 episodes long in a season, I prefer to binge. Waiting week to week can make me forget certain things as opposed to binging in one sitting. As for the discussion aspect, I prefer to watch in full on my own and then talk about it once the season is over. Talking about a show week to week can ruin things for me.

 

[Iceman]

And sometimes the conversation that comes out of that 2 minutes scene is extremely important, not to predict an upcoming twist, but to have a better understanding of a particular character and the decisions they made.

I'm saying this because shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad or Sopranos lie heavily in character study. And having these conversations and seeing other people's opinions online helped me understand better Walter White, Peggy Olsen, Tony Sopranos, Carmela, Skyler, Don Draper, etc...

Yeah, I massively miss that. This last season of Stranger Things I’ve had barely any conversation about many of the little things I noticed/liked. And it means even more for characters like the ones you mentioned.

 

[Iceman]

It depends on the show and the number of episodes for me. For shows that are 6-10 episodes long in a season, I prefer to binge. Waiting week to week can make me forget certain things as opposed to binging in one sitting. As for the discussion aspect, I prefer to watch in full on my own and then talk about it once the season is over. Talking about a show week to week can ruin things for me.

Good, I was hoping to get people on both sides of the fence. It’s interesting to see people’s different viewing habits/preferences and the reasons for them.

 

[Prison Mike]

I think Obi-Wan would have benefited if they dropped all episodes at once rather than weekly. Some of the complaints people had wouldn’t even be there if they waited to see the show in its entirety, IMO.

 

[Lip]

But talking in terms of business, don't you guys think that releasing weekly would be better?

I see Netflix having ephemeral hits that make the buzz last only a week. Meanwhile Euphoria was the most tweeted show of the decade. How is that title not for a Netflix show, since they are so big in social media?

I'm saying this because I saw that many people started watching Euphoria because of the conversation online, which lasted weeks and weeks and weeks.

By the way, I'm just bringing this point for the sake of the debate, not to go against anyone's personal preference. I just like to see other takes on this.

 

[DeadlyWest]

But talking in terms of business, don't you guys think that releasing weekly would be better?

I see Netflix having ephemeral hits that make the buzz last only a week. Meanwhile Euphoria was the most tweeted show of the decade. How is that title not for a Netflix show, since they are so big in social media?

I'm saying this because I saw that many people started watching Euphoria because of the conversation online, which lasted weeks and weeks and weeks.

By the way, I'm just bringing this point for the sake of the debate, not to go against anyone's personal preference. I just like to see other takes on this.

From a business sense, I'd be very surprised if the binge technique is the best in terms of sheer economics. Selling a lot of something at once vs selling something in chunks incrementally has a pretty obvious winner. More people talk about and have a buzz over it for longer, it's just that simple

But at the same time, back when that wasn't a thing, being willing to do that was a good way to set yourself apart from the others. Especially when you were churning out bangers after bangers. And mid 2010s Netflix? Oh my God, were they absolute ****ing titans of the TV industry back then.

Bojack Horseman, Peaky Blinders (for everywhere except the UK), Orange is the New Black, Daredevil, Stranger Things.

All shows that someone, somewhere, has on their top 5 greatest TV shows they've ever watched in their entire life. And they were released with an unconventional method where you can watch all the show at once.

Issue is, the novelty of that inevitably wears off and it has done, which means it's not as profitable as it once was. That's pretty apparent by Netflix splitting seasons into parts, as they have done previously.

It can work and it can make a lot of money under the right circumstances, but those circumstances have passed. And it's pretty clear that it just isn't as sustainable as the conventional weekly release method.

 

[InCali]

Depends what you mean by a binge. I don't like waiting a week for the next episode if they are all related to each other, but for ST: Stranger Worlds, I'm okay with it. It doesn't mean I have to watch 8 in a row in one sitting, but I can do that sometimes.....

 

[Prison Mike]

Is there actual data to show that a streamer makes more money by releasing their shows weekly vs dropping the episodes at once? I guess for streamers, it’s based on getting more subscribers. In Euphoria’s case, I guess the buzz last longer because it’s spread out over weeks but does that necessarily translate to more subscribers for HBO? I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just genuinely curious.

 

[Filmfreak]

It's interesting because for a long time the episode per week was the only option for TV, so I didn't know anything beyond that. For that reason I initially was skeptical with what Netflix was doing, but then I started waiting for most shows to be over so I could either binge watch them or watch them at my own pace.

I have to say, though, the last couple of years I've come back to the episode per week model and I think I prefer it overall. It gives time to speculate and discuss the series with other people and the episodes don't add up to the point where you can't keep up if you want to watch a fair number of shows at the same period. I still binge watch too, but I think I'm at a moment where I mostly enjoy the smaller doses more.

 

[henzINNIT]

Binging all the way. I can watch at my own pace. There are financial reasons to return to a weekly format, but I don't care about that as a viewer.

 

[Iceman]

But talking in terms of business, don't you guys think that releasing weekly would be better?

I see Netflix having ephemeral hits that make the buzz last only a week. Meanwhile Euphoria was the most tweeted show of the decade. How is that title not for a Netflix show, since they are so big in social media?

I'm saying this because I saw that many people started watching Euphoria because of the conversation online, which lasted weeks and weeks and weeks.

By the way, I'm just bringing this point for the sake of the debate, not to go against anyone's personal preference. I just like to see other takes on this.

All true and even in the earlier days of Netflix without competition releasing everything on day 1, I loved it as a consumer but thought they would keep subs longer if all the series were spaced out (similar reason to why streaming services prefer shows to films - so you are forced to be a subscriber for longer). If I didn’t like discussing shows with people as they happened, I would totally go back to binging everything.

Also feels like there would be massive anticipation for the final episode of a Stranger Things if it was built up to and everyone was seeing it at the same time.

 

[Iceman]

Is there actual data to show that a streamer makes more money by releasing their shows weekly vs dropping the episodes at once? I guess for streamers, it’s based on getting more subscribers. In Euphoria’s case, I guess the buzz last longer because it’s spread out over weeks but does that necessarily translate to more subscribers for HBO? I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just genuinely curious.

It’s not so much about gaining new subscribers but keeping subscribers for longer once they do subscribe. For me first few Netflix trials I would binge a show in full (all seasons) and then let it expire. If I was forced to wait a couple of months I would have done so and in the meantime would have found much more in the service to attract me. If the Disney + shows allowed me to binge I would consider doing that on day 1 of a show’s release and then unsubbing as I own the films anyway.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

I think the binging format works perfectly for shows like Squid Game or pretty much any show that pops up on Netflix nowadays, but for the bigger shows like The Boys or anything Marvel, DC or Star Wars related the 1 episode a week model is definitely my preference because of the fan conversation/speculation afterwards.

As immensely popular as Stranger Things is I think it would be even more popular if they just released an episode on a weekly basis even though I know it would drive a lot of fans crazy.

It felt like it took me forever just to finish Volume.1 of Season 4 because of the length of most of those episodes which would have been a lot easier to digest had they been released weekly IMO.

 

[Kaleb]

Like others have said here, it depends on the type of show. If it's a 'mystery box' type of show then I would prefer weekly episodes, that way I can discuss theories online via reddit, here or at with my friends.

 

[Iceman]

Looks like binging is not as popular now as it used to be (in early Netflix days) if the poll is any indicator.

 

[Prison Mike]

I’m kind of surprised by that especially since you can watch the show at your own pace if you binge.

 

[Lip]

I feel like Netflix is missing a lot by not prolonging the conversations online. I mean, Euphoria's ratings increased more than double compared to S01, and if I'm not wrong, became the highest rating from an HBO show outside GoT.

I feel like the absolutely phenomenal Severance from AppleTV wouldn't have the same buzz online (even if it still wasn't that big), if it was released all at once. I mean, I heard about the show because of the conversation. And I'm here willing to bet this show will see a massive increase in popularity next year because of the conversations and theories.

 

[Prison Mike]

But how much of that ratings increase is due to the show being released weekly versus it just being a good show? Did the ratings for the season 1 finale double compared to the season 1 premiere? If so, then maybe you can argue it was because of the week to week chatter but if you’re just comparing season 2 ratings to season 1 ratings then it’s probably just chatter that built up over the year (which would have been there regardless of whether the episodes dropped all at once vs spread out weekly). It’s hard to say one way or another without any hard proof.