By Peter Odeyemi, Junior Reporter
Recently, we've seen a change in the release schedules of Netflix shows, with a split-season release pattern replacing all-at-once or weekly drops. This is not a new phenomenon, but the real question is, is this appealing to the viewers, and is it a good approach to boost viewership for these shows?
In the last couple of years, Netflix has leaned more into split-season releases with a season of, say, ten episodes split up into two volumes and released within a few months of each other. We’ve seen this with very popular and highly anticipated Netflix releases, like “Stranger Things” Season 4, “Bridgerton” Season 3, “Cobra Kai” Season 6, “Outer Banks” Season 4, “The Witcher” Season 3,“The Crown” Season 6, and “Emily in Paris” Season 4.
Breaking down seasons like this isn’t exactly fun for viewers, as they're forced to wait weeks, sometimes a month, between episodes, and forced to remember multiple different premiere dates. A perfect example is the highly anticipated Stranger Things Season 5, which is set to release in three parts, across three different weeks, for an eight episode season (November 26, December 25, and New Years). As a viewer myself, this was pretty displeasing, considering we waited three years for a release. WHY IS IT BEING SPLIT INTO THREE PARTS, AND IS IT REALLY NECESSARY???
Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Bela Bajaria, in an interview with Deadline, said, “A lot of times it’s been creator-driven. Peter Morgan on ‘The Crown’, Shonda Rhimes on ‘Bridgerton’, there was a way that they wanted to structure or write it because they felt it was an actual, natural emotional break. So, there’s no set way; it depends on what’s best for the show.” She also explained that the split-season model was initially driven by pandemic- and strike-related production delays. It was, she said, a way to get new episodes to audiences faster rather than waiting for the entire season to be completed. Kevin McEwan, a media director for Bonding Agency, told Cosmopolitan in 2024 that breaking seasons into separate parts is “a way to keep viewers’ attention on shows” for longer.
Still, not everyone believes that artistic intent is the primary motivator. As Forbes pointed out, Netflix now almost exclusively reserves split seasons for its most successful shows— ones that are most likely to keep fans subscribing month after month. I believe this approach to keeping viewership is just a cash grab. Releasing episodes a few weeks apart rather than all at once stretches a single show's cultural moment and, more importantly, its presence on a user’s billing cycle. Fans are still racing to get through episodes to avoid spoilers, and now they’re doing it twice, sometimes in less than a month. Going this route also elevates clunky, middle-of-the-season cliffhangers that only exist to keep people engaged until the second part drops at a later date. In my experience, this often has the opposite effect, and I find myself forgetting to watch the second instalment of shows because the time in between is inorganic.
There is no denying that the age of streaming television has fundamentally changed how audiences consume entertainment. While other streaming platforms such as Disney+, Prime Video, and Max are still noted for releasing their biggest shows as weekly episodes, many viewers find that the week-by-week release format is a dated strategy that owes its origins to broadcast television and an increasingly outdated 24-episode per season production model. The weekly episodic format is better for sustained subscription, but Netflix is built into the binge model, so they created this method of keeping their shows in the zeitgeist longer.
While adopting another multipart release strategy for “Stranger Things” Season 5 could conceivably allow audiences to begin watching the first few episodes earlier, Netflix’s other experiences have shown that such a move only works best when the season also provides a natural break in the storytelling. Whichever way the streamer decides to go, hopefully, the final decision will echo Bajaria’s words and ultimately do what’s best for the show, and keep the viewership & fanbase alive enough to be possibly renewed.
Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do as viewers. If we don’t watch these shows, they will be canceled, and no one wants that. I just hope Netflix realizes that they’re only hurting themselves and at least tries to release one of their major shows weekly. “Outer Banks” would have been the perfect series to test this out with, given its diehard fandom, but sadly, that didn’t happen. The strategy doesn’t seem to be going away soon, as Netflix still has major shows upcoming with the same two-part release pattern. What do YOU think about this approach?