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[Violet Mcdow]

By running through some select executive comments and breaking down the pros, cons and data implications of various release strategies, we can identify how and why a one-size-fits-all approach may not be the best strategy overall.

When we look at the decay rate post-season, the weekly release and the periodic release generated 44 of the 50 best decay rates for a season of TV combined dating back to 2016. In other words, demand was less likely to fall off as quickly for shows released weekly and periodically. For decay rate post-offseason, or the demand change between the post-finale period and the time until a new season begins, weekly and periodic combined for 48 of the top 50 decay rates.

These trends imply more sustained demand and above-average demand for shows released over longer periods of time vs all at once. Sustained demand typically translates to more consistent engagement and lower churn, which means better retention and a lower cost of customer acquisition.

None of this is to say that the binge released series is a failure. Far from it. Grace and Frankie is one of Netlix's longest-running shows. And to be fair, a platform like Netflix, which releases scores of new titles every month, would not be able to effectively schedule such a volume of TV series weekly without cannibalizing viewership.

Yet the questions streaming executives must naturally ask is how much does it cost to provide the required volume of binge release series to A) unearth a rarer long-running success such as Grace and Frankie and B) maintain consumer interest and churn rates while viewers rapidly burn through shows in one weekend? Supplying entire seasons all at once is a costly way of doing business that requires a constant stream of fresh content.

Netflix reality series such as Love is Blind and The Circle are released in periodic batches over several weeks while Too Hot to Handle is split into two binge portions. This has put the most recent seasons more in the demand realm of weekly linear hits 90 Day Fianc and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

In terms of the top 50 most in-demand streaming originals in the US from 2020 to present, the supply share of binge release series has dropped 14% while the demand share has dropped 15%. In that same span, the dips for episodic releases were more muted: a 2% decline in supply share and a 3% decline in demand share. Yet periodic releases, which still often release the majority of its episodes one at a time, rose 16% in supply share and 18% in demand share.

Given the upfront costs required for a binge-heavy library, how significantly weekly and periodic release strategies already dominate the global TV demand leaderboard, and how these tend to maintain more consistent demand over longer periods of time while appealing most to older demographics, you can see the value in its strategic deployment.

A binge release hit compared to a weekly hit exists on a sliding scale, but something as big as Stranger Things seems to boast a higher overall ceiling than recent weekly hits such as The Mandalorian and House of the Dragon. (On the day Stranger Things premiered in 2016, it ranked as the 72nd most in-demand series worldwide; two days later it had broken into the top three). Six of the 15 most in-demand seasons of TV during their active season (i.e. releasing new episodes) since 2016 were binge or partial binges. While weekly and periodic seasons still claimed 41 of the top 50 spots, this underscores how high the binge and partial binge ceiling can be. The same holds true for the 50 highest post-season demand levels (the window immediately following the finale), which are dominated by weekly and periodic releases yet still see binge and partial binge combine for five of the top 10 spots. The top heavy release strategy can offer immense upside.

A binge release season, particularly for a new concept, can help quickly turn a low-profile series into a broader success. The Boys originally debuted as the 57th most in-demand series as a binge release in 2019 before breaking into the top five just two days later. Wednesday may have been a spinoff of the long-running Addams Family franchise, but its rise to the most in-demand series worldwide in just 10 days remains impressive.

As every streaming service attempts to claw out greater profits, flexible release strategies allows for companies to better address a variety of different goals simultaneously. In doing so, platforms can maximize engagement by serving audiences the latest addictive drama via binge before recommending a weekly swashbuckling action and adventure series, or any number of other combinations. This will help improve the perceived value of a service in the eyes of consumers as it offers an eclectic roster of genres and release strategies to choose from. And the stickier subscriptions are, the more pricing power it affords a parent company. Ultimately, the goal with such a versatile lineup is to contribute to a more manageable cost of customer acquisition and steadily increase the lifetime value of a subscriber over the long term.

The concept was used by several independent films released in the 2000s. In the mid-2010s, the subscription streaming service Netflix began to perform simultaneous releases of its feature films, by means of a limited theatrical release, accompanied by international availability on the Netflix service. As of Roma in 2018, Netflix began a practice of giving its films a three-week limited release before they become available on the service, which is still shorter than standard.

Due to their disruptive nature, simultaneous releases have faced mixed reactions from the industry. Advocates have considered them a means of catering to consumer choice and improving the accessibility of film, and critics arguing that they dilute box office revenue by requiring cinemas to compete with premature availability of a film on home video, and are detrimental to the traditional movie-going experience. Most major cinema chains require films to have an exclusive theatrical window of a minimum length (which in some countries is also enforced by law), so films that pursue a simultaneous release or shorter window are typically screened at independent and art house cinemas only.

Until 2020, the only film that had been released in such a manner by a major film studio was The Interview, which resorted to simultaneous releases via cinemas and digital rentals due to unforeseen circumstances inhibiting a wide theatrical release. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the re-evaluation of alternate release models due to the closures of cinemas under public health orders.

Typically, the release of a film is governed by staggered exclusivity "windows" of specific lengths, to prevent releases of a film at different outlets from having to compete directly with each other.[1][2][3] Release windows are enforced primarily by major cinema chains, which usually requires distributors to agree to a 74-day window before a film is offered via electronic sell-through. There is usually a 90-day window between the theatrical and home video releases.[4][3][5][6]

By the 2000s, improving home cinema technology such as DVD, and the growth of piracy, gave studios an incentive to release films on home video sooner. In 2005, Disney CEO Bob Iger suggested that simultaneous releases of films at theaters and on DVD could help to counter piracy, going as far as suggesting that DVDs could be sold directly at the theater (providing an additional source of revenue to their owners).[7][3] In the late-1980's, the average length of time between theatrical and home video releases was usually six months, but some blockbuster films enjoyed windows of nine to twelve months.[8][9][3] By 2012, the average window before a home release was 112 days, which decreased to 85 by 2017.[10][11]

The 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the mandated closure of cinemas worldwide in order to prevent large public gatherings.[24][25][26] On March 16, DreamWorks Animation announced that its film Trolls World Tour would be given a simultaneous release as a digital rental on April 10, as part of a larger announcement that parent company Universal Pictures would also offer early rentals for several recent films still in theaters (including Emma, The Hunt, and The Invisible Man).[27] As promotional campaigns and tie-ins for the film (including corporate synergy across the properties of Universal parent company NBCUniversal) were already in progress, it would have been difficult to cleanly postpone its release.[28] The film itself had already been moved up to an Easter weekend release, replacing the James Bond film No Time to Die (which was deferred to November 2020 due to the pandemic, but ultimately delayed to October 2021)[29] on Universal's schedule.[30]

On April 28, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell reported to The Wall Street Journal that Trolls had reached around 5 million rentals and nearly $100 million in revenue, and stated that the company planned to release films "on both formats" as soon as cinemas reopen.[36][37]

On November 18, 2020, Warner Bros. announced that Wonder Woman 1984 would be released in U.S. cinemas on December 25 and become available day-and-date on WarnerMedia streaming service HBO Max for one month after its release at no additional charge.[38][39] On December 3, Warner Bros. subsequently announced that this model would be extended to all of the studio's 2021 releases.[40] The announcement was met with backlash across the industry, showing concerns that this would further erode the cinema industry, and that the move had been performed unilaterally without forewarning.[41][42][43][44] Disney pursued a similar strategy for selected films, with day-and-date rentals for films such as Mulan, Raya and the Last Dragon,[45] Cruella, and Black Widow available to Disney+ subscribers via the "Premier Access" feature.[46]

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