Science Weighs In on Weekly vs. Binge-Releases

Somebody had to approach this academically, and that someone was Carnegie Mellon University, which conducted a study to determine whether binge-releasing a television series or releasing it weekly in a “drip” format led to better subscriber retention. With an industry churn rate of 37 percent - and 89 percent of streamers limiting their subscriptions to only four at a time - retention is key to a platform’s success.

The results may surprise you! (No, not really.)

The weekly release model resulted in 48 percent greater short-term retention than binge drops. The reasons are a little more interesting. Let’s say you subscribe to HBO Max to watch the third season of The Gilded Age. Not only are you watching that, but since you have a week between episodes, you’re more likely to explore other shows on the same service, which keeps subscribers around longer to watch other shows, as well.

While it does boost retention, the downside is that some subscribers - particularly those used to watching shows all at once - may wait until the season has ended to binge it. Likewise, streamers that release shows weekly are less likely to retain viewers with strong “binge-watching behaviors.”

A separate study by Luminate found that Amazon Prime Video’s hybrid approach is also successful: they binge-release new series to hook viewers, then switch to a weekly format in later seasons to better retain them.

The findings aren’t especially surprising. Other studies have shown that the popularity of a binge release drops about 80 percent after the first month. By contrast, weekly-release shows can maintain popularity for about four months.

That said, according to another study, 56 percent of viewers still prefer the binge-watch model, which provides more immediate gratification but also more regret and sleep loss. Binge viewers are also less likely to discuss the show with friends for fear of spoiling it.

The study results notwithstanding, I don’t think Netflix should be too concerned. They release so many shows that they can retain subscribers through sheer volume. We may not be talking about Dept. Q anymore, but there’s always a The Diplomat around the corner.