It seems that the Netflix binge strategy is about to end, or is it? At the moment, the platform seems to be testing the strategy of dividing the seasons into parts in order to keep the audience. We’ll see if it works for them.
It seems that Netflix, in its attempt to recover the faithful, is evaluating the possibility of eliminating the total publication of the episodes once the season comes out.
This is something that we have recently been able to see with the premiere of the fourth season of Stranger Things, published on May 27.
Investors question Netflix’s ability to cope with subscriber loss and growing competition in the streaming space. The streamer’s stock has plummeted in the past year, going from 700 dollars per share to about 160 dollars.
The company additionally reported a loss of 200,000 global subscribers during its first-quarter earnings report in April.
With all this on the table, the platform is looking for ways to attract new subscribers and, in turn, keep existing ones. Although he has not confirmed the end of the binge eating, he has indicated that splitting seasons into two parts can be a satisfying long binge experience for subscribers.
“One of the reasons they started bingeing was to get people talking and to really launch their new original programming. They succeeded. Now, though, it’s a very different case.” explains Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University and an expert on pop culture.
On platforms like Disney + or HBO Max, the premieres of individual episodes keep the audience hooked for several weeks, which means keeping those subscribers “tied” to your platform.
On the other hand, Netflix subscribers can watch an entire season of a show that interests them and then leave the service at the end of the month and that does not seem to like in this situation. However, it is the special point that this platform has and perhaps a change can have an even more negative impact.
Now, Netflix’s all-at-once strategy may set it apart from other streaming services, but it also means it has to increase your content output to fill in the gaps between series.
This is why Netflix has tried divide the seasons in half or in parts to distribute them. The fourth and final season of Ozark was split into two, just like the last season of Stranger Things. The last two episodes of the fourth season of this series (including its two and a half hour finale), will begin airing on July 1.
With this we will see if it continues with the staggered releases to determine if there are other series that would benefit from this strategy, or, on the contrary, it decides to go full circle and join the competition.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism