Since streaming —and, more specifically, Netflix— burst into our lives and became a key element for the consumption of audiovisual content, the debate has proliferated that confronts two radically opposed positions on what is the perfect model to make series and other episodic productions available to the public.
On one side of the scales are those, as is my case, staunch defenders of phased release, with a weekly episode that allows the slow and classic digestion of the story over several months. In the other, a good number of voices are raised in favor of the full season releases to be able to swallow in marathons.
Netflix and binge eating
Despite the resistance that companies such as HBO, Amazon Prime or Disney+ are exerting with titles such as ‘The House of the Dragon’, ‘The Rings of Power’ or ‘She-Hulk: Hulka Lawyer’, and regardless of specific cases such as those of ‘ Stranger Things 4’ or ‘La casa de papel’ —which split their seasons in two—, the Big N intends to continue with its strategy of binge-able release.
In the statement to shareholders that it has issued to report on the results of the third quarter of the year, in which it has grown by 2.4 million subscribers after two quarters of losses, the company has made it clear that does not intend to apply the weekly release model in their original series. This is what he has stated.
“We believe our marathonable launch model helps drive significant engagement, especially for newer titles. This allows viewers to lose themselves in the stories they love.
It’s hard to imagine, for example, how a Korean series like ‘The Squid Game’ would have become a huge hit worldwide without the strength that came from people being able to watch it in one sitting.
We believe that the ability for our members to immerse themselves in a story from start to finish increases their enjoyment, but also the likelihood that they will tell their friends about it, which means more people watch, join and stay on Netflix.”
As justification, reference has been made to a Google Trends graph that shows a spike in searches related to the series ‘DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’, maintained for several weeks three or four times higher than those of rival productions such as the aforementioned ‘The house of the dragon’ or ‘The rings of power’.
Via | Variety