The Difficulties Of Navigating The Modern Television Landscape - Opinion
From Shane Conto
It is a stretch to even call this television, right? That might be true but let’s keep it simple. Television started with a few networks with evening blocks focused on series. Then cable expanded that out to plenty more channels. But now we live in a world dominated by streaming services. Then you have content creators on social media like TikTok and YouTube as well as podcasts on plenty of platforms. How can you even keep up with it all? It is almost impossible. I know…I try. There are just too many series and shows to keep up with.
But what are the added layers of complexities that make this experience even more challenging? There is no uniformity to any of it. The experience network television began is still in place. CBS, ABC, and NBC all still have their evening blocks that they fill up with shows that release on a weekly basis. For me personally, I prefer this release method as it builds suspense and buzz around those shows. But these series take sporadic breaks and it is frustrating not knowing if there will be a new episode. It is also hard to plan to watch them in real time. But streaming collaborators have made that easier with CBS on Paramount+, ABC on Hulu, and NBC on Peacock. Seasons can vary a lot from being 10 episodes up to 20+ episodes. Some are 20-minutes without commercials and others 40-minutes.
How are cable and premium networks different? They are quite similar. But they tend to have specific days. HBO is so well known for its Sunday night content as well as their Monday night releases too. FX is more of a Wednesday kind of channel. But the main differences come in the runtimes and episode counts. They do release weekly but episodes are closer to 30-minutes and 60-minutes when it comes to those premium channel shows. They also usually run between 6-12 episodes. This makes them much more manageable and easier to get through. They also get to show more adult content as they are not restricted by network censorship.
But it is the streaming landscape that has changed it all…and made it so much more complicated. Netflix brought on the dawn of binge releases. Binging has become the most common experience for so many audiences. Just watch a whole season of television in a row. No need to wait but there is a lack of buzz and intrigue around. Finish and onto the next one! Completely forget about most of them in just a day or two. But there are streaming services who understand the value of weekly releases and have shifted in that direction. But it gets complicated too. Each streaming service has their own days. Hulu is a Tuesday or Wednesday kind of service. Prime seems to focus their energy on the coveted Friday. Disney+ started them the same but discovered the value of Wednesdays. Apple TV+ has slowly followed that lead as they balance out those two days. Then MAX just takes over Thursday all by itself. That is a lot to schedule around, isn’t it?
What is the most frustrating part? The amount of episodes are released. You can see a range of singular episode debuts and up to four to start a season. There is some much variability and too many episodes can be challenging when you are trying to balance a few shows. Some services release one episode per week (the easiest to handle) but some release bulk each week of two or three (looking at you MAX!).
Wow…that is a lot to process, right? But not as much as the amount of content we get dumped on us. What is the ideal approach for television releases to maximize viewers' experiences? Get rid of binging! People can choose to wait and binge later but there are horrible ramifications of binging. One, shows become forgettable so quickly. You move past it so fast that the impact is forgotten. The impact is even weakened too because you do get to savor the experience. Focusing on binging also makes it imperative to have endless content to throw at you. Quality will most certainly dip. Just look at Netflix. Now you have a weekly release. Make sure to spread it out. Without binging, make every day a day where episodes can be released. There are seven days to spread across. Make use of them. Drop them one episode at a time. Those three episode dumps to start a season can get overwhelming so quickly when you are trying to watch multiple shows. Imagine having four shows on a day. What works better? Four hours of content or twelve? That is easy. Make episodes count match the story! If it only needs 4-6 episodes, do that. If it is a sitcom or procedural, it is fine to still have 20 episodes. Do right by the show. Don’t make decisions based on keeping to a model. Finally, don’t do breaks. They are disappointing and annoying as they make for more waiting that is frustrating on top of between-season waits.
Is this the definitive plan to go with? I am sure not everyone is going to agree. But this is coming from the perspective of someone who tried to keep up with as much TV content that I can. This television landscape is overly complicated and hard to navigate. Something simpler and consistent would certainly help me and I am sure it would help many others. This will also cut down on content and make series feel more impactful on a cultural level.
