Study: Both Binge, Episodic Release Models Have Their Benefits, but Have to Be Deployed Strategically

To binge or not to binge, that is the question — or at least one of the questions — many streaming services have to contend with when figuring out the best ways to roll out their programming. There are obviously advantages to each release method from allowing viewers to watch at their own pace with a binge release to building momentum (and hopefully an audience) with an episodic rollout.

On Thursday, television technology and analytics company Samba TV released its breakdown of how series dropping all of their episodes at once did in 2022 in comparison to those that doled them out one week at a time. Samba found that both release models have their merits, but that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to which approach is better. The firm found that if a streaming service is looking to maximize its overall audience numbers that premiering individual episodes on a weekly basis is the best method as it gives more people the opportunity to jump into a show as word of mouth grows.

However, for platforms looking to create significant buzz and to have audiences ride that momentum into other series, the binge model makes the most sense. Samba illustrates the difference by comparing two of the biggest hit shows of 2022, Netflix’s “Wednesday” and HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” which streamed on HBO Max.

The “Wednesday” premiere drew the largest audience during the first 50 days following its debut, reaching 8.7 million people thanks in part to the excitement created by all eight episodes being available at once. However, the first episode of “House of the Dragon,” was not far behind during that period, clocking 8.4M viewers. Then, the “Game of Thrones” prequel continued to grow exponentially as episodes were released every. Sunday night, while the Addams Family series experienced a slower increase in audience.

Ultimately, according to Samba’s analysis, “House of the Dragon” had the biggest audience of the year coming in at 16.3 million viewers. However, it is worth noting that the other three shows in Samba’s top five were all Netflix series. “Stranger Things” released its fourth season in two chunks — somewhat splitting the difference between the binge and weekly models — while “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” and “The Watcher” both released all of their episodes at once.

“In the battle among streaming providers, success is defined by various metrics: maximizing subscribers, platform engagement, and show audience,” Samba TV co-founder and CEO Ashwin Navin said. “Comparing Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ and HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ illustrates two different approaches that draw massive audiences, with an intense focus on how to captivate younger, diverse viewers. As the streaming landscape rapidly evolves, it’s essential to develop innovative, data-driven ways to break away from the pack.”

What the comparison between “Wednesday” and “House of the Dragon” shows is that shows that release all of their episodes en masse don’t drive viewership at nearly as high of rates as those releasing weekly, but there is another benefit. Binge series are far more likely to retain viewers than those that trickle out episodes one at a time. This makes sense as streaming services — especially Netflix — are designed to roll from one episode to the next. When what’s next is the next episode from the series you were just watching, you are far more likely to stick with it, not to mention that with a weekly release model, it is far easier to lose viewers who get busy or distracted.

In breaking down a selection of 20 shows, Samba saw a 47% retention rate from premiere to finale across the nine bulk-release series included compared to the 41% of weekly releases. Seven of those nine shows landed in the top-10 highest retention series analyzed. Prime Video’s “Jack Reacher” and Netflix’s “Virgin River” led the way in terms of retention in 2022.

The biggest discrepancy between the two main types of releases was in how they did in terms of picking up viewers after the initial 50 days following the premiere. The ongoing buzz created by weekly episodes led shows employing that model to more than double their viewership according to Samba TV following their premiere. The average growth from premiere viewership and total viewership for the eight episodic-release shows analyzed was 119%; conversely, series that used a binge-released method saw only a 45% lift.

Of course, that is perhaps not surprising given the way that media marketing works. For a bulk release, all of the advertising and attention is focused on one date, looking to create the largest audience at launch as possible, while for episodic releases, advertising certainly peaks for the premiere, but is maintained for far longer than when all episodes are dropped at once.

Paramount+’s Sylvester Stallone-led “Tulsa King” saw the largest growth of any series included in Samba’s data set, increasing 312% from premiere viewership to total audience. HBO Max’s “Euphoria” and “White Lotus” were next, but significantly behind.

Perhaps the biggest lesson that this report can convey is that both the binge and weekly release methods can be successful, but they have to be deployed for specific strategic purposes. Also, as Netflix begins to embrace the two-part release method, this could become more standard for the world’s largest streamer and other platforms looking to capitalize on the model’s success.

Across the series that Samba studied which were released in two parts, the average lift from premiere to total viewership was significantly higher than for the pure all-at-once series. The dual-release shows saw a 58% increase compared to the bulk-release series’ 45%.

As streamers continue to experiment with ways to keep their audiences engaged — as Disney+ will start doing with its two Marvel series premiering this fall — the benefits of all release models will be a key factor in determining how and when we see our favorite shows.