To Binge or Not to Binge
I am a serial binge-watcher. I've lost more sleep than I'd like to admit because I wanted to stay up for "just one more" episode (and the next thing I knew, I'd breezed through two whole seasons). I've made record time on countless series, most often on Netflix. Shows like Orange is The New Black, Dear White People, and Grace & Frankie (just to name a few) don't just make it easier to binge--they encourage it.
Orange is the New Black (OITNB) will come out with a new season in two days, and while I'd love to pretend I'm going to ration it, watching one new episode each week, I know myself: I'll knock out all 13 episodes in a matter of days. And so will a lot of other viewers. OITNB is part of the binging phenomenon that came out of platforms like Netflix. Unlike network shows that air an episode each week, streaming shows like OITNB put out all of their episodes at once. And thanks to social media, viewers start discussing what happens in the episodes almost immediately. So if you decide not to binge-watch, you'll have to work hard to avoid any spoilers.
We have a different relationship with shows we binge-watch than with the ones we check in with on a weekly basis. Not necessarily a better or worse relationship, but certainly a different one.
A show you watch weekly becomes a part of your routine. Once a week, you invite those characters and their stories into your home, and over time you become attached. I kept up with NBC's Parks and Recreation in this manner for many years. When the show finished its run, it was like saying goodbye to a longtime friend--I felt the show's absence in my schedule. I rewatch episodes of Parks and Rec occasionally, and when I do I'm filled with a sort of nostalgia for my old weekly routine.
In contrast, I've binge-watched every season of OITNB so far. Binge-watching is addicting. When I'm in the midst of binging a show, every free minute is spent watching. I watch through all my meals and late into the night. In a matter of days the season is over, and I'm forced to wait another year for my next fix. I've noticed that I tend not to rewatch episodes of a show I binge-watched.
So what do these different formats mean for the business side of media? Again, I don't know if either format is necessarily better or worse. I do think each one lends itself better to certain types of shows. OITNB, for example, would be tough to keep up with on a weekly basis. Some episodes will stray from the main plot, diving into the backstory of one character for an entire hour. Watching that over a long period of time, I imagine it'd be hard to keep up. From a marketing perspective, streaming shows that release all their episodes at once require a heavy marketing push to hook viewers--get them interested in the show and bring them back in when a new season is about to come out. OITNB's marketing team released a series of short advertising videos on Facebook and Twitter in the months leading up to the release of the new season. This tactic is good for targeting OITNB's viewers, since people who watch Netflix shows are likely to be the same people who engage heavily with social media. For a network show that releases episodes on a weekly basis, the challenge is different. In these cases, marketing has to work to maintain viewers' interest over time to convince them to keep tuning in week after week. And with more and more streaming shows available, that challenge grows -- how do you keep viewers coming back for weekly episodes when there's always a new Netflix show to binge?
As streaming platforms like Netflix become more and more prominent in the world of television, I suspect bingeable shows will become more common. Still, I don't think television will change to that format entirely. There is a certain charm to a show that enters your household once each week. I think one of the major changes we'll see is that showrunners will have a new set of questions to ask themselves when creating a show: does this content and format lend itself to releasing one episode each week or putting them out all at once? And the answer to that question will inevitably decide what platform they seek out for their project and how that project is marketed.
Orange is the New Black (OITNB) will come out with a new season in two days, and while I'd love to pretend I'm going to ration it, watching one new episode each week, I know myself: I'll knock out all 13 episodes in a matter of days. And so will a lot of other viewers. OITNB is part of the binging phenomenon that came out of platforms like Netflix. Unlike network shows that air an episode each week, streaming shows like OITNB put out all of their episodes at once. And thanks to social media, viewers start discussing what happens in the episodes almost immediately. So if you decide not to binge-watch, you'll have to work hard to avoid any spoilers.
We have a different relationship with shows we binge-watch than with the ones we check in with on a weekly basis. Not necessarily a better or worse relationship, but certainly a different one.
A show you watch weekly becomes a part of your routine. Once a week, you invite those characters and their stories into your home, and over time you become attached. I kept up with NBC's Parks and Recreation in this manner for many years. When the show finished its run, it was like saying goodbye to a longtime friend--I felt the show's absence in my schedule. I rewatch episodes of Parks and Rec occasionally, and when I do I'm filled with a sort of nostalgia for my old weekly routine.
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In contrast, I've binge-watched every season of OITNB so far. Binge-watching is addicting. When I'm in the midst of binging a show, every free minute is spent watching. I watch through all my meals and late into the night. In a matter of days the season is over, and I'm forced to wait another year for my next fix. I've noticed that I tend not to rewatch episodes of a show I binge-watched.
So what do these different formats mean for the business side of media? Again, I don't know if either format is necessarily better or worse. I do think each one lends itself better to certain types of shows. OITNB, for example, would be tough to keep up with on a weekly basis. Some episodes will stray from the main plot, diving into the backstory of one character for an entire hour. Watching that over a long period of time, I imagine it'd be hard to keep up. From a marketing perspective, streaming shows that release all their episodes at once require a heavy marketing push to hook viewers--get them interested in the show and bring them back in when a new season is about to come out. OITNB's marketing team released a series of short advertising videos on Facebook and Twitter in the months leading up to the release of the new season. This tactic is good for targeting OITNB's viewers, since people who watch Netflix shows are likely to be the same people who engage heavily with social media. For a network show that releases episodes on a weekly basis, the challenge is different. In these cases, marketing has to work to maintain viewers' interest over time to convince them to keep tuning in week after week. And with more and more streaming shows available, that challenge grows -- how do you keep viewers coming back for weekly episodes when there's always a new Netflix show to binge?
As streaming platforms like Netflix become more and more prominent in the world of television, I suspect bingeable shows will become more common. Still, I don't think television will change to that format entirely. There is a certain charm to a show that enters your household once each week. I think one of the major changes we'll see is that showrunners will have a new set of questions to ask themselves when creating a show: does this content and format lend itself to releasing one episode each week or putting them out all at once? And the answer to that question will inevitably decide what platform they seek out for their project and how that project is marketed.
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