Despite popular belief, Netflix does not have binge watching.
This is a practice that developed in the 2000s when DVDs, which were first introduced in 1996, began to be released.
Dedicated fans of cult-beloved TV shows like “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “The Office” would watch entire seasons over and over again. People who kept hearing about buzzy shows like “The Sopranos” but didn’t have HBO would check out the DVD box sets. (HBO (WBD) – Get Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. report once had an entire ad campaign about how their box sets were great Father‘s Day gifts.)
Netflix (NFLX) – Get Netflix Inc. Report launched as a mail order subscription service, and the term “red envelope” is one of those generational terms that people of a certain age (call them Old Millennials if you insist) instantly recognize, and anyone under that age … won’t . But when the company introduced streaming in 2008, it suddenly became much easier, and therefore more popular, to watch TV.
Netflix Built Its Popularity On Binge Watching
For the first few years of its existence, the Netflix streaming service was a bonus that came with the subscription service, and at first there wasn’t a ton of it. Read also : Netflix is down, and fans are freeing.
But as Netflix began licensing more shows from studios like Sony (SNE) – Get Sony Corp . Report and NBC, a feedback loop was created. More people started checking out the service, and shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Parks and Recreation” slowly went from cult favorites to era smashes.
Some programs have been on Netflix for so long that they have become almost fundamental elements of the service, and it is difficult to imagine Netflix without them. Who among us, during the pandemic, did not find it comforting to watch several episodes of “New Girl” in a row?
But nothing gold can stay, and now it seems that even more popular standbys are disappearing rather quickly.
What Shows Might Be Leaving Netflix?
Many pop culture fans have recently started grumbling that we didn’t know how good we had it when there were all but a handful of streaming services, instead of the many we have now. See the article : Who wins when Netflix finally shows ads.
Fans have every right to be disgruntled about the streaming wars, as the halcyon days when they could catch up on more or less anything by signing up for a few services are long gone.
But from the perspective of studios like Disney and NBC (now owned by Comcast (CMCSA – Get Comcast Corporation Class A Common Stock Report) ) it didn’t make good business sense to continue to allow their intellectual property to outpace the growth of a competitor that had begun subsuming the entertainment industry.
For a while, the studios made good money from the license fees of Netflix and its competitor Hulu, but eventually they realized that it made even more sense to launch their own streaming services.
So when Disney+ (DIS) – Get The Walt Disney Company Report launched in fall 2019, it took back all the Marvel and Star Wars movies it had licensed to the company, and NBC did the same for “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation ” and more.
Netflix had long anticipated this move, and began creating its own original shows and movies to fill the void…to mixed success.
But for a while, Netflix executives could console themselves that even if their originals were more flops than hits, at least there were a few standbys left.
But now it appears that “Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul,” “New Girl,” “Community,” “NCIS,” and “How to Get Away with Murder” are slated to leave Netflix by 2025 after their licensing deals expire .
The beloved NBC cult hit “Community” is to be exclusive to Peacock. It’s unclear what will happen to the rest of the programs, though “New Girl” and “How To Get Away With Murder” originally aired on Fox and ABC, respectively, making Hulu their likely home.
“Better Call Saul” and “Breaking Bad” are produced by Sony, whose licensing agreement with Netflix will expire in early 2025, according to The Wrap. Sony is the only major studio without its own streaming service, so it’s anyone’s guess where the shows end up; it’s always possible they’ll both land on AMC+, the streaming service from AMC (AMC) – Get AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Class A Report (the network that originally aired both shows) alongside “The Walking Dead” and “Mad Men.”
It’s well within the realm of possibility that Netflix could choose to renew the Sony deal, and perhaps even make a compelling offer to Disney to extend the “New Girl” license.
But Netflix is trying to both spend more money to get the next breakout hit while also cutting costs left and right, so it’s unclear how much the company values catalog hits like these more, even if they only focus on the Bet on the popularity of Netflix originals. unclear.
But the good news is that Netflix fans still have a few years to watch the episode “New Girl” where Jess and Nick kiss for the first time without signing up for another subscription.
