Daniel Wolfram
A new report shows that fans are growing tired of waiting multiple years for their favorite TV show to return.
Usually, you only had to wait a year for your favorite TV show to return.
However, after streaming took over from cable television, fans now have to wait two or more years just to learn what happens next to their favorite characters.
That streaming model is turning out to cause a significant loss in viewership.
Viewership is dwindling
For years, streaming platforms have had gaps between seasons of their television shows.
That relaxed timeline is now causing measurable damage to audience engagement. Industry viewing metrics from Luminate show that extended hiatuses consistently shrink a show’s American audience when it finally returns.
Even giant pop-culture hits are not immune to the drop-off. Data show that Stranger Things suffered an audience decline of nearly 25 percent for its final season following a multiyear break.
Speeding things up
To combat that, major film and television studios are reviving a traditional television strategy. They are planning to speed things up and put TV shows on a strict annual schedule.
This faster schedule is already delivering big results for networks and platforms. Both The Pitt at HBO Max and Landman at Paramount+ launched second seasons one year after their initial debuts.
Audiences rewarded that consistency in a huge way. Luminate data show that The Pitt more than doubled its estimated viewership, while Landman also managed a massive ratings spike.
Timing is everything
Regaining lost momentum can still be a tricky process. The Netflix series The Night Agent saw its audience slip between seasons two and three despite a relatively quick release.
Luminate Intelligence claims that the minor decline came after a steeper drop following a two-year hiatus between its first two seasons. The damage was already done.
For streaming giants, the message is becoming impossible to ignore. Keep audiences waiting in the dark, and they will simply move on to something else.
