One of the best things about Netflix since it first came around, and then started featuring popular shows, is that the streaming network has managed to deliver an entire season of each show all at once. Compared to other networks that dish out one episode per week, Netflix is the binge-king that allows people to sit down and experience every episode all at once if they so desire. Many of us likely know how tough it is to keep from watching an entire season in a day when we have the chance. There are upsides to binge-watching versus a week-by-week release, but there are downsides as well. When the season is watched from front to back and all is said and done, it takes forever for another season to come, if it ever does, and there’s a great deal of time for speculation, guesswork, and discussion that ends up going down a large number of paths that range from the rational and well-educated to the ridiculous and outlandish. Surprisingly, sometimes the outlandish ideas end up becoming the most feasible ideas.
But lately, Netflix has come under fire for a couple of things, and binge-watching is only one of them, not to mention the least of them. Losing subscribers has been a huge issue since the price increases, the new stipulations, and what feels like a tightening net that subscribers don’t care for has only made things worse. But getting back to the binge-watching and why it should happen that Netflix might need to switch things around, it does feel as though releasing one episode a week does keep people talking more, offering up theories, and doing their best to keep guessing what will happen from week to week. There are a couple of issues that might keep Netflix from making this switch, however, and while some might not think that it’s that big of a deal, Netflix has been built up in a way that has made it clear that things aren’t going to change that quickly, at least not with its programming.
One reason is that there’s simply too much content on Netflix, which means that releasing one episode per week would make it tough for the streaming giant to keep up with its own hectic schedule, and it might make things tough on the subscribers, who would be sitting in front of the TV or their devices all day just to make sure that they get to watch what they want. Sure, that’s a little dramatic and it’s better to unplug from time to time to keep things in perspective. But from the standpoint of the streaming channel, trying to switch from the release of an entire season to a week by week basis, it does feel that they might have to lower the amount of content they continue to push, since if anyone has been paying attention, there’s a LOT of content on Netflix, and it’s fair to assume that this is one of the things that has kept them on top for so long. But the streaming wars are still very much in effect and aren’t going to be done anytime soon.
Where Netflix might start faltering however is that its adherence to releasing content that can be binged all at once makes it possible for people to pick and choose their desired shows, but once those shows are watched, there’s no real point to keeping the streaming channel. It’s been like this for a while, as many people will wait until their favorite show returns, then they’ll join up to the site and enjoy the free 7 days of service, or they’ll sign on for as long as it takes to watch their show. It’s not much wonder that Netflix did away with the free trial period, since it was easy for people to take advantage of this and end up paying next to nothing for the service. Other streaming channels have seen this happen as well since after the first season of The Mandalorian, Disney+ saw a serious drop-off in the number of subscribers before things started to even out again. When all is said and done, the idea that binging a season versus seeing it week by week is bound up by the idea of how each streaming network is designed.
If Netflix were about to change things up, it feels easy to think that the site might actually become fairly unreliable for a while as the change occurred, or worse, it might be shut down for some time until the changes were made. That last part doesn’t feel entirely realistic, but it does feel as though it would be a switch that people might not be ready to embrace. Right now though, it feels as though Netflix is worrying more about the loss of its subscribers.
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