How the Old Television Model Is Making a Comeback | Abbott Elementary, The Pitt, & More - video Dailymotion

MsMojo

From binge-watching revolution to weekly appointment viewing - TV is coming full circle! Join us as we explore how the old television model is making a comeback in the streaming era. We'll examine why shows like Abbott Elementary, Euphoria, and The Pitt are thriving with traditional release schedules while streaming giants reconsider their "all at once" approach.

Transcript

00:00Remember back in the day when your favorite television show aired once a week?

00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, where today we'll be looking at the return of appointment television and the

00:09future of streaming. You need to know we do this on Sunday specifically because this

00:12is our football. It's like your church. Yeah. Yeah. It's like our church.

00:17When Netflix brought Arrested Development back seven years after its untimely cancellation,

00:23the award-winning comedy's creator, Mitch Hurwitz, noted that the new medium of online

00:27streaming required a new format. That new format was binge-watching. Rather than releasing episodes

00:33on a weekly basis, the streamer introduced the idea of dumping entire seasons in one night,

00:38allowing viewers to decide their own schedule.

00:40And that's when Maybe, who had spent so long lying to others, and even herself,

00:46finally had to admit she had made a huge mistake.

00:49I know I'm fine.

00:50Though traditional TV execs were skeptical of the method, and some experts worried about

00:54related health concerns, the big swing worked out in Netflix's favor. Audiences proved to be eager

01:00and willing to spend entire nights binging their favorite shows, and surprisingly, those shows proved

01:05to be a hit with critics as well.

01:07How is it so good?

01:08What time is it?

01:09It's like daylight already. How did that even happen?

01:13We just stayed up all night.

01:14Do you want to watch more?

01:15My vacation day starts now.

01:16In 2013, House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, and The Resurrected Arrested Development all landed Netflix a

01:23total of 14 primetime Emmy nominations, with House of Cards landing streaming its first major

01:28award show win. It appeared as if online streaming, and particularly the binge format,

01:33was the future of television. But could it last?

01:36Truth is, we don't want to discourage you from doing it. In fact, the more you binge watch,

01:41the more money we binge make.

01:43In just over a decade, public perception of Netflix has changed drastically. While shows like The Crown

01:49remained awards darlings, the majority of the streamer's bloated output is considered weak and

01:54forgettable. Everything has been thrown to the wall, and not a lot of it is sticking.

01:58You make this a lot harder, you know?

02:01I know.

02:03I miss me too.

02:05I'm fantastic.

02:06Of course, it's important to note that Netflix is no longer a novelty. Services such as Disney+,

02:12Hulu, Amazon Prime, and HBO Max have since emerged and established themselves as tough competition.

02:18Unfortunately, the wide array of choices has also come with a wide array of subscription costs.

02:24Will we see cheaper prices? I mean, that's something that you typically think of with

02:28businesses as more competition. Will lower the prices, do you foresee that at all?

02:32Well, one would hope that that would be the case, but I suspect what companies are paying

02:36to produce this content is going to lead the prices to actually continue to go up.

02:41With prices climbing each year, and services seemingly removing more content than they can produce,

02:46it's easy to see why consumers have become disenchanted with streaming. Some have even

02:50begun to take advantage of the binge model, subscribing to a service with the intention

02:54of watching their favorite show and then canceling immediately after. It all feels increasingly

02:59unsustainable, both for the streamers and their millions of subscribers.

03:03Why do you even bother watching cuts, giving us notes, if you're just going to let some machine

03:11make all your decisions for you? Once thought to be a thing of the past, cable television has

03:17actually been seeing a surprising comeback in the midst of streaming's messy decline.

03:21According to one study, 22% of consumers have chosen to return to cable as of 2025,

03:26with another 6% considering a return due to rising streaming costs.

03:30I think that is kind of a discussion that a lot of people are having, you know, being a little

03:35discouraged, like, hey, I want to watch my favorite show here. Okay, in order to watch this one,

03:40I have to download this. It just, it keeps kind of snowballing.

03:43While this may not seem like a lot, it does suggest a significant shift in the public's mentality,

03:48one that can also be seen in the rising popularity of network and cable TV shows in recent years.

03:53You know what? I don't care if you think I'm good at this or not anymore.

03:57I care about whether or not I can make a change.

04:01Beginning in 2021, Abbott Elementary ushered in a new era for network sitcoms,

04:06entertaining both audiences and critics alike. Meanwhile, HBO found success in the young adult

04:11demographic with Euphoria, which not only drew in millions of viewers each week, but quickly became

04:16the most tweeted-about series of the decade. Even Succession began to make waves in its final

04:21season, garnering a sizable fan base that steadily grew in numbers in the lead-up to the series'

04:26shocking climax.

04:27We anoint you. You get the bobble. Congratulations. It's haunted and cursed and nothing will ever go

04:36right, but enjoy your bobble.

04:39In 2020, COVID spread across the U.S. and forced many Americans into lockdown, presenting the perfect

04:45environment for nationwide binge-watching. Unfortunately, while nostalgic rewatches and mindless entertainment

04:51like Tiger King thrived, ongoing film and television productions faced unprecedented challenges.

04:57How many of those have you sold?

04:58Fifty. Cash money.

05:00On my way to buy an earnest and new computer. All part of my contingency plan.

05:05You gotta think ahead, you know.

05:07Yeah.

05:08Because everything ends.

05:09With many unable to work within pandemic restrictions, several series were subject to cancellations or

05:14significant delays. After a brief boom in popularity, streaming took a hit in the following year,

05:20and companies were forced to consider new ways to grow and maintain their online viewership.

05:25I think I'm onto something. If you could just let me keep going.

05:30Are you even trying to be careful?

05:34Huh?

05:35Or are you just gonna burn your career and take me down with you?

05:39Coin flip.

05:40Some services turned to the old television model, releasing episodes on a weekly basis.

05:45Whether they released three, two, or just one episode a week, the desired outcome was the same,

05:50to keep people interested and talking. And so far, it seems to be working in their favor.

05:55It's time for a change.

05:57In more ways than one.

05:59What's this?

06:00A fresh start.

06:02Hulu employed a Demi-binge model with its original series Only Murders in the Building,

06:07dropping a three-episode premiere followed by single-episode weekly releases.

06:10Its first episode, released in August of 2021, earned the honor of the most-watched comedy

06:16premiere in Hulu's history. And by that October, it had become Hulu's most-watched comedy series

06:21ever.

06:22Oh my God, do we have fans?

06:24Oh, thank God we have fans.

06:26Where's the new episode?

06:27Shouldn't you be recording?

06:28Yeah, we don't work for you, you vultures!

06:30HBO Max and Apple TV Plus saw similar successes with weekly release series like The Pit and Severance,

06:36with the latter even eclipsing the popularity of former Apple powerhouse Ted Lasso.

06:40Well, Trent, I've never really concerned myself too much with wins and losses.

06:44Now, that's the course I'll probably use.

06:46Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified

06:51about our latest videos.

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06:57If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

07:01So what does this mean for the future of watching TV online?

07:05It's hard to say.

07:06It's unlikely that streaming will be going anywhere anytime soon.

07:09But it looks like the way we watch may be changing for good.

07:12There is no one way.

07:15If you want to conquer life's obstacles and be the best you can be,

07:17you're going to need to learn more than one discipline.

07:19While The Bear still manages to maintain its success in spite of its full season drops,

07:24it seems like an outlier in the current climate.

07:26Even Netflix appears to be turning its back on the format that made them famous,

07:30announcing that the final season of Stranger Things will be doled out in three separate

07:34installments rather than all at once.

07:37Hopefully, the return of this old way of watching will be better for the shows,

07:40and better for our brains.

07:42Winners find a way to win.

07:44Let me find a way.

07:45Chances of success are 20 to 1.

07:47Never tell me the odds.

07:49Do you prefer to binge full seasons of TV or watch new episodes weekly?

07:54Let us know in the comments.

07:55You mean we can watch another one?

07:57Well, if we're all up for it, I don't know if there's everybody else.

07:59Yes, please, yeah, one more, one more.

08:01One more episode.

08:03One more episode.

How the Old Television Model Is Making a Comeback | Abbott Elementary, The Pitt, & More

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