Disney has turned its back on binge watching

Back when Netflix became the first hugely popular way to stream television shows the idea of binge watching helped make it unique and appealing. The idea that you didn’t need to wait week to week for episodes of a new show or could watch an old show without buying physical media drove many people to find a new favourite show on Netflix rather than traditional television. Their are many factors for why Netflix succeeded but I’d guess the draw of binge watching was a huge part of it. More recently however, Disney Plus seems to actively avoid the leaning in to binge culture and there seems to be a logical reason for it.

When Netflix was largely unchallenged by other streaming sites it was very reasonably priced for the amount of content you can stream. Admittedly, Netflix is still pretty reasonably priced but there is much more competition for where a desirable show can be streamed these days. Years ago someone might have everything they want to stream on Netflix so they pay 8 dollars each month and are quite happy. Nowadays, someone might be paying for Netflix, Amazon, Disney Plus and Crave all at once to see all they want to see.

As a consumer the easiest way to give your wallet a break is to constantly subscribe to a service, binge watch a ton and then cancel the subscription and move to on to another service. In this way I think that binge watching has gone from something streaming services advertise to something that could lead to lapsed subscriptions and less profit. With that in mind services seem to less interested in having new series binged and Disney Plus is leading the way.

For original shows Disney’s release schedule, season lengths, pricing and to a lesser extent their social media presence all suggest they are focused on locking people into subscriptions for long term. First of all the subscription price for Disney plus is relatively cheap which would make it less likely for people to proactively cancel their subscription regularly. In regards to releases the Netflix’s run with Marvel shows can be compared to Disney Plus Marvel shows to illustrate how Disney aims told hold fans for longer periods. Even when Netflix was releasing shows more frequently once Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Punisher were up and running, you could still binge whole seasons and cancel your subscription in between the premier of the next show. Disney Plus is also releasing its Marvel shows every few months but it seems much more calculated to insure they retain subscribers.

Most importantly, they release episodes weekly and have unusual episode counts. For example, a 6 episode season like Loki and Falcon and winter soldier had guarantees that if a fan wants to watch every episode starting when they premier they are locked in for at least two months and Wandvision’s 9 episode run would have one committed to three months. And by the time this months are up the next big Marvel release is just weeks away, maximizing the potential to stay subscribed to Disney for the long haul. Admittedly you can still wait to subscribe until a season ends and then binge it but if you want to be part of the conversation as it happens Disney has you right where they want you. Even their social media doesn’t shy away from things some would call spoilers furthering the idea that they want you locked in.

Marvel content is just one part of Disney’s trickle of media designed to get fans hooked with other shows and films adding to the appeal to stay subscribed. However, if these shows mean that much to fans they should by all means stick with Disney and keep a subscription but no one should feel ashamed from opting out from these massive media companies when they want to.