Peak TV may be over, but we still live in an era of abundance when it comes to television. Every week brings new shows to streaming services and old-school broadcast and cable channels. And while they may be of a variety of genres, vibes and quality, they generally arrive in two formats: weekly or binge release.
The old-school TV model aired one episode a week for months. In the early 2010s, Netflix pioneered the binge release by dropping all episodes of an entire season into our queues. It was a revolutionary move that gave viewers the power to watch at the pace they desired.
They could choose to gobble up eight hours in one sitting (with a few bathroom breaks) or dole them out over a few days or even weeks. In time, some streamers followed in Netflix's path, but others opted for a weekly release schedule or some kind of hybrid — e.g.
a two-episode premiere, followed by one-episode weekly drops. Now, even Netflix has tweaked its own binge formula. Some of their reality shows, like "Love Is Blind," release episodes in batches, and some of their biggest scripted originals, like "Bridgerton" and "Stranger Things," split their seasons into two or three parts.
Viewers have feelings about all of these different release strategies, with ardent fans of bingeing on one end of the spectrum and stubborn proponents of weekly airings on the other. So, I asked members of the Tom's Guide staff: Is it better for a show to have a binge release or weekly release? Here's how they answered. I.
