Netflix Pilots Old-School Weekly Alternative To Binge-Watching

Netflix, the streaming service that started the concept of binge-watching, is planning to trial an old-fashioned way of viewing television shows — weekly episodes, according to Benzinga and other news outlets. The Silicon Valley entertainment platform is piloting the format with the Wednesday premieres of two of its most popular competition series, “The Circle” and “Too Hot to Handle,” per a company blog post on Tuesday (March 23).

The company reported in its last quarter that it had 8.8 million paid subscribers. But Netflix is now facing increased competition from rivals, including Walt Disney’s new streaming service Disney+ and others from HBO Max, Paramount and more.

Releasing installments on a regular and often weekly schedule has historically been the standard practice with new television episodes, and continues to be the mainstay of broadcast network shows. When Netflix entered the scene, it disrupted the entertainment industry by allowing subscribers the option to customize their own viewing schedules. The all-you-can-view plans have proven to be popular with subscribers, but Netflix is gambling that its new unscripted shows will find a by-the-week audience.

Instead of rolling out all episodes of “The Circle” and “Too Hot to Handle” at once, Netflix will introduce each show across several weeks so that viewers will “have time to dissect and dish on every step of the competition as it unfolds,” according to the company.

On-demand streaming became available for movies in 2007, around the same time that Netflix hit the scene with offerings beyond what was anticipated. At the time, the company utilized technology and customer engagement to disrupt Blockbuster’s hold on movie rentals.

Netflix reported fourth-quarter 2020 revenues in January that topped 200 million paid subscribers. Of that number, some 8.5 million people joined the streaming service just in the fourth quarter