Opinion: Weekly Episode Releases Need To End

You’re on the edge of your seat, watching the hottest new show, and you’re left on a killer cliffhanger.
As you click the next episode, you’re met with the words “Next episode releases next week.” Suddenly, your comfortable viewing experiences change into seven long days of waiting.
Many streaming services have been releasing episodes of popular TV shows once a week, rather than the traditional way of releasing the whole season at a time.
Some of these shows include The Summer I turned Pretty, The Boys, House of Dragons, and Severance.
Weekly releases feel unnecessary and outdated.
One of the main points of streaming services is for people to be able to binge-watch seasons or watch at their own pace.
According to Lewis Pearce on Medium, when seasons are released all at once, “somebody [who] wants to binge the show in a week or even a few days, is fully free to do so. However, if they want to watch it weekly, or when their family/friend is present, [they have] more flexibility.”
This gives people the opportunity to choose how and when they enjoy the show, rather than feeling the need to watch the episode the exact day it comes out to avoid spoilers.
A problem with our parents’ TV consumption was exactly this.
Everyone watched Friends on Thursday and talked about it on Friday.
If our parents missed it, there was no catching up or going back; they just heard about it from others and moved on.
But in 2025, that doesn’t need to be the case.
Streaming services are only choosing weekly releasing seasons over releasing them all at once to benefit themselves.
As discovered by Parrot Analytics, “Supplying entire seasons all at once is a costly way of doing business that requires a constant stream of fresh content. Netflix itself seems to have realized this as it continues to experiment with prolonged release strategies.”
Streaming services have realized the economic benefits of these releases and changed fan-favorite shows to this.
With more and more people tuning in, they are attracting customers through this strategy, resulting in them making more money and earning loyal customers.
While it may be true that prolonged streaming builds anticipation and creates more discussion with play-by-plays of episodes, it is not convenient or beneficial for many.
People should have the ability to choose when they want to watch shows instead of feeling held hostage by a schedule.