(05-16-2022 10:31 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  It seems as if though Netflix compounds this since they have a binge model of dropping entire seasons of shows all at once as opposed to parsing them out week-by-week.

As a consumer, I generally like this model. When there's a cliffhanger, who doesn't want to get to the next episode as soon as possible?

However, if I'm thinking about this like a business person, does it make sense to have a binge model versus having a weekly (or at least more spaced out) model for showing episodes? Disney+ can keep a subscriber for a show like The Mandalorian for multiple months, whereas a fan of any particular Netflix show can conceivably watch an entire season in a single day. This requires Netflix to invest in way more shows to keep subscribers back month after month.

Note that Netflix might be shifting a little bit on this front. They split the last Ozark season into two halves and will be doing the same for the upcoming season of Stranger Things.

Also, as a consumer, there's also a part of me that actually likes the discussion and anticipation of a new show each week. Better Call Saul is going through its final season right now, for instance, and it's fun (at least for me) to listen to podcasts and go onto Reddit forums to discuss episodes and bat around theories of what will happen next. It's sort of like sports in a way where the anticipation and talk around a big game can consume more time than watching the game itself. That creates a broader ecosystem around the show. (LOST was really the first show that tapped into that for me.)

Netflix also has a bit of a disadvantage because they don't have the brands that the other main streamers can rely upon with built-in fan bases. Disney+ has Star Wars, Marvel and all of its animation properties to create more content from in essentially an endless manner. HBOMax has DC along with Game of Thrones (and conceivably could figure out how to create more Harry Potter content). Even Paramount+ has Star Trek and Nickelodeon.

This is another corollary about why sports have been attractive to buy for all networks: it's a fairly good bet that people will still be watching the NFL, SEC, Big Ten, NBA and MLB 10 years from now. They might be expensive, but you know what you're getting and they essentially sell themselves. In contrast, networks spend hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars on content and they might be fortunate to get even one hit show out of those investments. Huge brands like Marvel and Star Wars at least provide a sports-like fan base to start from, which mitigates the risk a lot.

Otherwise, there's no formula as to why something becomes a hit show. For all of the billions of dollars that Netflix has spent on content, its biggest hit ever was Squid Game - an inexpensive Korean-produced show with subtitles/dubbing and incredibly graphic violence. Squid Game had a per episode cost of about 25% of the average episode of Stranger Things and The Crown and 10% of the per episode costs of the big Marvel shows like WandaVision. Granted, one show like Squid Game game can power profits for an entire company - entertainment companies besides Disney (which has so many brands to mine) are all effectively on a boom/bust model.

Counter point would be waiting until all the episodes have dropped and then subscribing.

Example: instead of subscribing to AppleTV + for Ted Lasso for episode 1 I wait until episode 10 drops and binge them all.

Either way you still need a lot of content to support a streaming service