Shocking Data Proves Weekly TV Episodes Beat Binge-Watching! Must See!

Welcome to Screen Talk, the newsletter for all TV enthusiasts who enjoy discussing their favorite shows. This week’s Break Down section will explore exclusive data from Fandom about the effectiveness of binge and weekly episode releases in generating fan engagement for some of the most popular TV shows.

In this week’s Screen Talk, we also suggest you delve into the ingenious creations of “The Blacklist,” and provide two extra streaming recommendations for your leisure time.

In Case You Missed It

Essential stories you may have overlooked

Snoop Dogg’s transformation into America’s darling at the Paris Olympics: An exploration of the rapper turned family-friendly star of NBC’s Olympics coverage, tracing his journey from his gangsta rapper roots.

Two seasons in, ‘House of the Dragon’ seems to be a disappointment. Here’s the striking reason why: Similar to the expanding ‘Lord of the Rings’ and Marvel franchises, ‘House of the Dragon’ has lost the wit that made ‘Game of Thrones’ exceptional.

‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 finale: Rhaenyra and Alicent’s ‘struggle between sorrow and affection’: Director of ‘The Queen Who Ever Was,’ Geeta Vasant Patel, talks about the complex relationship between the old friends, Daemon’s vision, and the filming of the episode’s montages.

‘There’s a crisis in comedy at the moment’: Paul W. Downs shares how ‘Hacks’ is fighting back: In the latest episode of the Envelope video podcast, we ask “Hacks” star Paul W. Downs if “The Bear” is a comedy. Also, Tyler James Williams reveals that the “Abbott Elementary” team enjoys keeping viewers on edge.

Tune In

Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

“The Aquabats! Super Show!” (Tubi, Pluto, YouTube)

The creative masterminds behind “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!,” premiering today on Apple TV+, were also the driving force behind this quasi-children’s show, which aired on the now-defunct Hub Network from 2012 to 2014. The series, which can be streamed free from several online sources, was tailor-made for this group born in the 20th century as a South Bay rock-ska-skate band that performed as costumed superheroes. It’s a comical blend of low-budget Saturday morning shows from the late ’70s and early ’80s, featuring the band — Ricky Fitness, Crash McLarson, Jimmy the Robot, EagleBones Falconhawk and the M.C. Bat Commander (series co-creator Christian Jacobs) — roaming the land in its Battle Tram, performing shows and battling an array of bizarre mutant enemies. It’s a fusion of the Monkees and the Power Rangers, and it’s as amazing as it sounds. The Aquabats’ own YouTube channel also includes the subsequent short-form web series “Saturday Morning With the Aquabats!” and “All New RadVentures! with the Aquabats!” — Robert Lloyd

“Primos” (Disney+)

Summertime was a magical period during my childhood: the unique thrill that comes with knowing that you have months of seemingly infinite, largely unstructured days to spend doing all sorts of things you don’t get to do during the school year. (Plus homework, courtesy of my parents.) “Primos” manages to capture some of those feelings. Created by Natasha Kline, the animated series follows Tater Ramirez Humphrey, a nearly 10-year-old with a wild imagination who planned to spend her summer vacation figuring out her aspirations and dreams. But her plans get somewhat derailed when she learns that her mother has invited all 12 of her primos to spend the summer at their home — though it turns out that nobody is better equipped to cheer you on and help you discover who you want to be than your quirky family that loves you. Summer break might be winding down for students in and around L.A., but luckily, the first nine episodes of the show are available on Disney+ to help us revel in that feeling for a little bit longer. — Tracy Brown

Get In The Loop

All you need to know about the film or TV series everyone’s discussing

Featuring political corruption and the frequent assassinations of high-ranking U.S. officials, NBC’s “The Blacklist,” currently streaming on Netflix, might seem an odd choice for a re-watch during an election cycle. But its delightful absurdity makes it hard to resist once you start. Of course, the main attraction is James Spader, who, as Raymond “Red” Reddington, International Criminal of Great Intrigue, appears to be having more fun than any actor leading a 10-season network show ever has. In the pilot, his seemingly unshakeable Reddington, No. 1 on the FBI’s fugitive list, surrenders himself, pledging to provide, on a weekly basis, dangerous individuals who would otherwise evade justice — the eponymous Black List. His requirement is that he communicates only with agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone), a rookie profiler who knows Red only from the wanted posters.

Each episode presents a new case, along with fresh instances of Red’s charming ruthlessness and hints at his enigmatic past; his “cleaner,” Mr. Kaplan (Susan Blommaert), is one of television’s most remarkable creations. The cast is formidable, the action non-stop, and the body count extremely high. The numerous political plots (and there are plenty) are so extravagantly far-fetched that an international cabal often found at their heart is literally named the Cabal. And if Spader weren’t enough, the guest star roster includes the likes of Alan Alda, Dianne Wiest, Leslie Jones, Nathan Lane, Martha Plimpton, Brian Dennehy, and Stacy Keach.

Admittedly, the speculation of who Red is to Elizabeth can get a bit tiresome at times, as can the sight of every agent involved contemplating whether collaborating with Red is worthwhile — you could play a drinking game based on the number of times Elizabeth or one of her colleagues declares, “I’m out.” But then Spader will deliver a line like “There’s nothing that can’t be accomplished with a little ingenuity and a lot of explosives” and nothing matters beyond what Red will do, or say, next. — Mary McNamara

Analysis

Times staffers analyze current pop culture — whether they love it, hate it, or are somewhere in between

Ever since the onset of the streaming wars, TV viewers have been debating the merits of the Netflix-style binge model versus the traditional weekly episode release, as well as every kind of hybrid strategy in between. And, despite your fond memories of devouring entire seasons of “Orange Is the New Black” in a single weekend, that debate has been settled: Except for a few rare exceptions (“Baby Reindeer,” for instance), the TV series that dominate the conversation are released the old-fashioned way, week by thrilling week. Streaming platforms have taken note, with Amazon Prime Video (“The Boys”) and even Netflix itself (“Love Is Blind”) reconsidering their early commitment to the binge model in pursuit of that crucial “buzz.”

Now, data is available to support the conclusion that weekly episode releases maintain and enhance a show’s place in the zeitgeist better than binge-watching.

Data gathered by fan communities platform Fandom and shared exclusively with The Times reveals that series released weekly generate 33% more engagement during their release window than those released all at once, and sustain that engagement for nearly 50% longer than their binge-watching counterparts. In other words, spreading a season-long arc over eight or 10 weeks not only generates more buzz but it also extends a series’ post-finale relevance. (The main exceptions, Fandom found, were established powerhouses like “Stranger Things” and “Ozark.”)

But “one size doesn’t fit all,” warns Fandom’s chief marketing officer, Stephanie Fried, a former employee of NBCUniversal and Discovery. “If you want to retain a subscriber and you want to reduce churn, a weekly release is the safer bet because you’re going to obviously hold onto someone — they can’t just watch it all and then unsubscribe… If you have content that someone binges, but then provide them with more binge-worthy content because you have a wealth of relevant content, it doesn’t matter as much.”

Fandom’s measurements are based on visits to its 50 million pages by 300 million users per month, including data about what pages they visit, how many pages they visit, and the depth of their scroll on each page. While it may not be the hallmark of flawless storytelling, viewers like me who spent hours during the recent second season searching the platform’s wikis for information to understand “House of the Dragon” certainly indicate interest in the HBO series, for instance.

“Another instance where a weekly release is smart is for a new show where you want to start gaining traction and generating discussion,” Fried says. “On Fandom, but also on social media, you’re going to get more word-of-mouth buzz over a longer time period, which will make people more likely to tune in and start watching the show. From a viewer acquisition perspective, it’s going to benefit you longer.”

As for the two-part release model, recently adopted by Netflix for big names like “Bridgerton” and “Emily in Paris,” the results seem to be mixed: The most recent season of “Bridgerton,” starring Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan, “didn’t perform as well” as previous ones in terms of engagement on Fandom, according to Fried.

“The task of coming back and remembering when to tune in again, it’s almost like they had to redouble their promotional efforts,” she says, noting that Fandom has considered adding features that would help users find out when their favorite shows will return. “People are already confused about release timelines, and now you’ve introduced another variable.”

Data from the likes of Fandom and Parrot Analytics can provide valuable context to Nielsen streaming rankings and platforms’ own, selective use of viewership numbers, but perhaps the most revealing insight in the study shared with The Times is more fundamental than the debate over release strategies. Examining some of the most talked-about TV series of 2024, Fandom found that “The Boys” (weekly), “Bridgerton” (hybrid), and “The Bear” (binge) all experienced a drop in engagement compared to previous seasons, while the relatively new “House of the Dragon” showed only a slight improvement from Season 1 to Season 2.

Which, considering the lukewarm critical response to these titles’ most recent seasons, can be interpreted as evidence of something else we all knew, at least on an anecdotal level: Creating a great TV show is challenging. Maintaining its greatness is even more difficult. — Matt Brennan