Will Netflix ever release scripted original series weekly?
Fans of television shows were used to waiting weekly between episodes of their favorite shows. Then, enter the streaming world and big companies like Netflix that changed up the game.
Streaming services like Netflix also changed up the format of the traditional 22-24 episodes per season. Now we have shows that are just limited series that might be five episodes with longer run times than the traditional 40-ish minutes.
These companies have changed the television scene and it hasn’t looked the same since. For some shows the weekly release works, while for others it just makes the story feel like it’s being dragged out so they can reach the final episodes of a season.
Netflix is known for its ad-free platform (though it is going to begin running a cheaper plan with commercials), as well as was being the real catapult into what binge-watching is today. The fact that the streamer releases all episodes of a series at once was a new concept when it first began. Now, the company has experimented with splitting seasons like Stranger Things season 4 and the upcoming fourth season of Manifest. But will the streamer ever consider releasing episodes weekly like network television?
Will Netflix ever release scripted original series weekly?
It doesn’t seem like that idea is floating around at the company. At a recent panel moderated by Variety at HRTS Presidents Luncheon, Netflix’s head of scripted series for U.S. and Canada shared it’s very unlikely a scripted Netflix original will ever drop weekly.
Variety reports the president, Peter Friedlander, said the following:
"We fundamentally believe that we want to give our members the choice in how they view. [G]iving them that option on these scripted series to watch as much as they want to watch when they watch it, is still fundamental to what we want to provide."
It’s true what he says. It’s completely up to us how quickly we want to zip through a season. The binge drop format has been a real success for the streaming giant, and a popular choice amongst most viewers.
Perhaps the super-sized season of Stranger Things season 4 could have been a good chance to test run a weekly release schedule. But I do think sticking to the full season releases, or even splitting seasons into two, does work. As a professional binge-watcher myself, I don’t think I’d be happy with waiting between episodes for some of my favorite shows now that I’m used to this Netflix format!
What format do you prefer? Do you think Netflix should try a weekly release schedule? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!