Disney+ to release new episodes weekly

Gone are the days of having to wait in anticipation for an entire week to see what happened after the cliff-hanger of that last episode. No more talking about it with friends and coming up with ideas of what could happen next or having to rewatch the episode multiple times for clues to help you out. No, these days thanks to most series coming live in their entirety all at once, we can binge them and when we want to know what happens next, we simply just keep watching for the answers.

There is no doubt that binge-watching has become a big thing in the entertainment world, thanks to the rise of streaming services like Netflix. In fact, we have series designed around the model exclusively throwing out the typical episodic model and instead of creating arcs that are best viewed in their entirety rather than having each episode build-up to own crescendo.

Is having every episode of a series out all at once better than waiting for it one at a time? Well, it depends on who you ask I guess as there are strengths to both. While it’s nice to be able to watch entire series at a time, shows like Game of Thrones have shown that people still have an appetite for building hype for the next episode, even if avoiding spoilers remains a challenge. For Disney though, it appears they are going to be going the more traditional model with their new streaming service as TV Line reports that Disney+ will be releasing new episodes of shows on a weekly basis rather than all at once, in contrast to most of its streaming counterparts.

It’s a surprising move by Disney who seems to be breaking a trend here, though one that is not entirely bad. While it could be argued that stretching series out in weekly intervals forces people to stay subscribed for longer rather than people subscribing, binge-watching a few series and then unsubscribing, it does also allow for each show to build up to something more. One of the pleasures of pre-binging days was that anticipation and build-up to what was coming next which allowed the show to stick with you for longer. It also gave you time for other things and gave you more time to step away from the TV screen as well.

As for me, it doesn’t really make a difference My biggest frustration with old TV series was that you had to plan your life around specific times to watch episodes, something which will still be avoided in this model and I never have the time for binge-watching entire series in a short space of time anyway, so watching it one episode at a time suits me just fine. I’m also so far behind on watching certain series that by the time I will get to some of them, all episodes will be available anyway. That’s me though. Your lifestyle might allow for more binge-watching and watching shows this way is something you prefer.

So, do you think Disney is right in releasing new episodes weekly or would you prefer to binge everything straight away?

Last Updated: August 27, 2019