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Are we burning out on bingeing? Join MsMojo as we examine the rise and potential fall of the streaming era's marathon-watching phenomenon. From Netflix's "Stranger Things" to the quarantine boom and the content bubble, we're exploring how binge culture has transformed both the entertainment industry and our viewing habits. Is appointment TV making a comeback?
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00:00Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're examining the cultural and industrial effects on TV shows
00:13made for constant streaming, and whether they're a good thing in the long term.
00:24What's the hold up?
00:25Everyone was talking about Netflix's Stranger Things long after the entire first season dropped at once in 2016.
00:32Nine years later, there's not much hype about the final season, largely because it's only the fifth.
00:38Relax, for goodness sake.
00:40I'm enraged, they should be answering.
00:42You've been away a whole month, honeybun. Maybe they just forgot.
00:46This comes in the wake of Netflix releasing the second season of Wednesday after a troubled three-year hiatus.
00:51The decision to split this season into two parts, and the final installment of Stranger Things into three,
00:57is a testament to the streaming giant's continued reliance on binge-watching.
01:02But does the audience and the industry still have faith in this ritual?
01:05Guide us to truth through night and morn. To this, let our powers be sworn.
01:12I didn't drive all this way to hold hands in the dark. How long do we have to keep this up?
01:15Mama, for once, just be quiet.
01:17Overburdened production slates and diminishing returns, both creative and financial,
01:23have pronounced the perils in releasing major TV productions without momentum in the feedback.
01:28The scattered demographic targeting has further compromised faith that studios are investing in the best product possible.
01:35Many say that the content bubble has burst, and appointment television is making a comeback.
01:40But how was binge-watching ever such a phenomenon?
01:43Obviously, for you adults, you ladies, a lot of you all-girl group have gotten together to binge tonight,
01:49which seems fine to me. I do have a problem, though.
01:52The marathon mentality.
01:54Since their breakthrough in the 1970s, marathons have turned TV from a ritual into a way of life.
02:00The old myth is that consumers are never more relaxed than when they're watching their favorite show for hours on end.
02:06So good! How is it so good?
02:10What time is it?
02:11It's like daylight already. How did that even happen?
02:14We just stayed up all night.
02:16With home video giving them agency in when to watch,
02:19while premium cable eliminated commercial interruption,
02:22the activity became more about the shows themselves.
02:25Finally, in 2013, Netflix began releasing whole seasons of original programming
02:30to give subscribers the option to make their own schedule or watch all at once.
02:35Will you take it easy for me, please?
02:37Oh, who, me?
02:38Um, you know what? I really wish I could.
02:40But I have a really intense Netflix binge that I have scheduled way back,
02:44and I also am going to eat everything in the fridge, so it's going to get pretty crazy in here.
02:48Competitors like Amazon Prime Video and Hulu soon capitalized on the phenomenon crudely dubbed binge-watching.
02:55In 2017, a survey by Deloitte suggested that over 70% of Americans regularly streamed personalized marathons.
03:03Many believed the success of this format was in the dependable quality of streaming shows with big budgets and bigger talent.
03:11The industry apparently thought it was a matter of generating buzz by any gamble necessary.
03:15I think they've done studies.
03:18A guy told me about it at CrossFit.
03:23The content bubble.
03:25Binge-watching inevitably limited shows' long-term hype and promoted the practice of subscribing to services
03:31only for as long as it takes them to watch particular content.
03:34Cancel everything.
03:36What?
03:36See what you can't live without, then just re-subscribe to those apps.
03:40Okay.
03:40Oh, that's good.
03:41By the end of the 2010s, Netflix was unfortunately pioneering the model of greenlighting and renewing
03:47as many productions as it could, while continuing to drop TV seasons all at once.
03:52This meant that shows were viciously competing for viewership, even on the same platform.
03:57Moreover, shows like Master of None and Stranger Things were starting to take longer hiatuses due to creative pressure
04:18or the studios' overload production slates.
04:21The prioritization of meme-oriented entertainment and ambitious prestige projects permeated the streaming industry,
04:28forcing traditional networks to invest more in that format.
04:31A show's success was still becoming less and less guaranteed.
04:35Binge-watching then saw a resurgence under unfortunate circumstances going into the 2020s.
04:41What are we going to do?
04:42There's no need for your hysterics.
04:44Why is Miss Thompson to be kept away?
04:46Because her condition is catching.
04:49The Quarantine Boom
04:50From 2020 to 23, the COVID-19 pandemic put the whole world on lockdown.
04:56With nothing else to do, more people than ever took up binge-watching.
05:00The first year alone saw a 16% increase in streaming time and a 26% increase in subscriptions.
05:08Nonetheless, quarantine's devastating impact on the entertainment industry further delayed productions.
05:14I'm accustomed to a certain level of failure.
05:20It's just that when a project usually goes wrong, I know exactly what happened.
05:26And it's usually me getting in my own way or me not listening to other people.
05:30But with Glow, I have no idea.
05:34Acclaimed shows like Netflix's Glow were canceled due to long projected hiatuses,
05:39yet blockbuster series pushed forward.
05:42The irony, though, is that library shows tended to outperform new releases.
05:46You know what this is?
05:47This is us getting ready for the prom.
05:49You know what?
05:50You guys, we don't have to watch this.
05:52Yeah, it's fun!
05:53It's fun!
05:55Subscribers seemed more interested in binge-watching Friends and The Sopranos than a massive back
06:00catalogue of streaming shows.
06:02The industry took this to mean that they should invest more in reboots and legacy sequels,
06:06as if new shows' hiatuses weren't long enough.
06:09Audiences merely craved comfort in difficult times.
06:13They would have different reasons for being nostalgic about older ways to watch TV.
06:17Sitting in this room, we can still feel the pleasure of that connection.
06:23Because I realize now, we were starved for it.
06:27We really were.
06:29A change in direction.
06:30Or not?
06:31Several streamers wised up to consumers' fatigue and schemes to unsubscribe after binging.
06:37Later seasons of shows like Amazon's The Boys, as well as entire platforms like Hulu and Apple TV+,
06:43embraced weekly releases of episodes.
06:45And week after week, audiences tuned in.
06:49Should we all take naps so we can stay up later?
06:51No!
06:52We pushed through and we all meet in the lobby, 5 o'clock sharp.
06:54Yeah!
06:55Meanwhile, big-budget Netflix projects like Jupiter's Legacy and Cowboy Bebop were cancelled
07:00after a single binge-format season, despite signs of warming critical reception.
07:06But The Bear has proven to be a major hit with FX on Hulu, serving it by the season.
07:12Why?
07:12Because each season has been acclaimed and reliably dropped in June every year.
07:17The best offenses have the ability to reset and adapt on a dime.
07:23Book?
07:24Book, yeah.
07:26We can do that, though.
07:29We have to.
07:30Netflix has at least adapted to releasing blockbuster seasons and sections.
07:34But that may not be enough.
07:36The end of quarantine shifted the streaming wars to matters of quantity or quality,
07:41punctual productions, and consumers' long-term investment.
07:45So this was your existential angst?
07:48Or were you just trying to have it all?
07:51That is so American.
07:52Audience fatigue.
07:54Studies suggest that the popularity of TV marathons is rooted in escapism and familiarity with the show.
08:00But binge-watching has turned out to be a very different practice, with harmful long-term effects.
08:06Beth?
08:10Are you in there?
08:13I've been calling.
08:16Are you okay?
08:17Keeping up with new shows has been linked to social isolation and negative impacts on mental and physical health.
08:24Psychology Today has even reported negative effects on memory retention and overall enjoyment of TV consumption.
08:32I can't remember everything.
08:33Everybody forgets stuff.
08:35Yeah, but shouldn't I know the name of the project I was working on last week?
08:38The growing excess in content and season hiatuses don't exactly help audiences' engagement.
08:44What used to be too much of a good thing is now seen by many as a chore in trying to find entertainment that's worth their time.
08:51There is another key statistic to remember.
08:53With rising subscription costs and declining quality among too many original programs,
08:592022 saw Netflix's first profit loss since the early days of binge-watching.
09:04Netflix blaming more competition, illegal password sharing, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
09:10The company ended the first quarter with 200,000 fewer subscribers than the end of last year.
09:16An industry in crisis.
09:17The streaming wars haven't just taken their toll on consumers.
09:21Studios have spent billions to boost a market that is still statistically less profitable than traditional television.
09:28My lord, that would require a workforce greater than any ever assembled, yes.
09:33The High King cannot provide one, so he has sent me you instead.
09:38Meanwhile, production costs have skyrocketed over competition that includes friendly fire,
09:44due to the drastic expansion of production slates.
09:47Part of the folly is in a growing dependency on flawed algorithms to assess market trends,
09:52diluting the quality of programming.
09:55Pam has a 27 percent!
09:58But the right verticals are watching.
10:00Taste clusters exploding.
10:02Yeah, you know, I've been doing this for 30 years.
10:05And if there's anything I've learned, it's nobody knows anything except the algorithm.
10:12What's worse is that these business models increased pressure on overworked, underpaid film crews.
10:19In 2023, multiple unions in the American entertainment industry went on strike in response to unfair conditions and industry shifts.
10:28The lingering effects of the binge trend on streaming and other industries look rather bleak.
10:33But has the trend really died out?
10:35I'm sorry, Leela.
10:37I'll never be able to watch enough TV to make you proud of me.
10:41Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
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10:56The Bubble Burst
10:57There was talk in 2019 of the content bubble bursting.
11:01Streaming's resurgence in 2020 apparently just labored that process across the decade.
11:07The overabundance and rising subscription costs of streaming services have eliminated their value as an affordable alternative to cable.
11:15But firmly they compare us to say goodbye to you.
11:22A 2025 study by Coupon Cabin found that 22% of cord cutters have returned to traditional television.
11:30Internet-based cable substitutes and live stream features are also becoming more popular.
11:36In order to keep up, on-demand platforms are becoming pickier about original programming with the potential for long-term quality and marketability.
11:44There are still plenty of shows worthy of marathon viewing, at least in moderation.
11:49Despite an early viewership decline, Wednesday's second season is still a hit in two parts.
11:54And no matter how long fans had to wait, the final season of Stranger Things is sure to be a blockbuster event.
12:01Or three.
12:02But everything that made streaming all day so satisfying has been undermined by fatigue among consumers and in the industry itself.
12:10Whether the inevitable reformatting will steer closer to the old ways or invent a new tradition, we're here to watch responsibly.
12:17You weren't in the suit?
12:19What?
12:20No, I got out of that thing like two days ago.
12:23I decided to catch up on my reading.
12:24What's your take on the state of the streaming era?
12:27What are your own viewing habits?
12:29Plug into the comments below.
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