Is binge watching over?

In recent years, many streaming platforms have gradually moved away from releasing all episodes of a series at once, opting instead for a return to weekly distribution. This model, typical of traditional television, had seemed outdated with the advent of binge-watching, the practice of watching an entire season in one go, a format popularized especially by Netflix starting in 2013. The success of this approach was such that, for a time, it appeared to be the new standard for television seriality. However, over time, habits and editorial strategies have shifted. Today, many of the leading platforms — Disney+, Apple TV+, and more consistently over time, HBO — have chosen to prioritize the weekly release model. This is evident in how some of the most-watched TV series of recent years were released, such as White Lotus, Severance, and The Last of Us, which followed a consistent schedule with only one episode available each week. This choice is not random but is rather driven by strategic, editorial, and audience-related motivations.

On one hand, staggered releases help maintain attention on the series for several weeks, prolonging the online conversation and increasing the product’s visibility. On the other hand, platforms have sought to differentiate their brand identity from Netflix’s now well-established model, which is closely associated with compulsive consumption. Moreover, binge-watching has increasingly come under criticism: watching multiple episodes in a row has been perceived by part of the public and experts as a less healthy and less sustainable form of consumption. Interestingly, among all players, only HBO has consistently maintained a weekly schedule even after transitioning to digital. In doing so, it has stayed true to its long history as a U.S. premium cable channel. And yet, the formula has worked. In recent years, even Netflix, which heavily contributed to the rise of binge-watching, has begun introducing changes to its content distribution strategy.

While still offering many series with all episodes available from day one, the streaming giant has had to balance this approach with the need to adopt models closer to those of its competitors, in a context where the content offering is constantly expanding and platform subscriptions have become more expensive. A notable example of this experimentation is the fourth season of Stranger Things, released in 2022 in two separate batches a few weeks apart — a departure from the single-drop format used in previous seasons. The main reason driving many platforms to prefer staggered releases lies in the ability to sustain audience interest over a longer period. When episodes are released one at a time, a so-called “release window” is created in which viewers’ engagement tends to intensify. During those days, shared content on social media multiplies, and audience participation increases, keeping users involved between episodes.

This behavior also has a direct commercial impact: a weekly cadence helps strengthen subscriber loyalty, encouraging users to return to the platform regularly and maintain their subscription throughout the duration of the series. The gradual release of episodes thus becomes an effective tool for spreading attention over time and building a more stable relationship with the audience. For some particularly successful series, the weekly format has played a key role in the product’s success itself. Titles like The Sopranos, Westworld, or Game of Thrones benefited from a distribution strategy that deliberately encouraged online explainers and collective analysis week after week. This approach fostered not only more active audience participation but also greater care in narrative construction, allowing creators, season after season, to better articulate plotlines and more gradually and deeply develop TV series characters.